The word for Sur was ‘Saam’ in ancient India. In present times it is known as Swar, a melodic and soothing sound. And if one wishes to listen and feel it (Swar) in all its perfection, Lata Mangeshkar’s voice is the personification of it.

The legendary Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan after listening to her said: “What we classical musicians take 3 1/2 hours to accomplish, Lata does in 3 minutes.” She had beautifully reinvented her style from the classical to obtain the best results for light music.

Much of it came naturally to her as she carried the genes of natya sangeet maestro, Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar, especially the ability to render intricate Swar Sangati to perfection. This is evident in her very first song as playback singer ‘Naachu Yaa Gade, Khelu Saari Mani Haus Bhaari’ for a Marathi film Kiti Hasaal (1942). She was merely 13 years old then. The most mystifying feature in it was her perfect pitch rendition—a singer’s most precious vocal asset. This is something one is born with and extremely difficult to acquire.

Her association with music directors Anil Biswas, Naushad, C Ramachandra, Sajjad Hussain in the 40’s and 50’s made for a rich body of work. Each one had his own preferences and she satisfied each of their highly specific requirements. If it was andolit swar demanded by Sajjad Hussain in ‘Aye Dilruba’ from the film Rustom Sohrab (1963), for Shankar Jaikishan it was a subtle touch in ‘Tera Jana’ for the film Anari (1959).

Pieces like ‘Pa Lagun Kar Jori’, the famous Pilu Thumri, revisited by Datta Davjekar for the film ‘Aap Ki Seva Mein’ (1946) stood out when she was still in her teens. In later years, she would render the same Raag Pilu with the tranquility of a lullaby in ‘Chandan Ka Palna’ for the film ‘Shabab’ (1954) and in ‘Na Manu Na Manu’ with breathtaking harkat to emphasise its chanchal aspects in Ganga Jamuna (1961) (both compositions were by Naushad). Anil Biswas’s Ek taal composition ‘Rooth ke tum to chal diye’ for ‘Jalati Nishani’ (1957) was similarly a masterpiece with pathos rendered through detailed note patterns.

When it comes to intricate singing, one has to but remember the genius of both music maestro C Ramachandra and Lata ji, for compositions like ‘Radha na bole’ (Azaad,1955) in Rag Bageshri, ‘Balma Anadi’ (Bahurani, 1963) in Rag Hemant and ‘Dheere se aaja’ (Albela, 1951) in Rag Pilu. Not to forget the jugalbandi of the Meend-based Bihag composition ‘Tere sur aur mere geet’ (Goonj Uthi Shehnai, 1959) by Vasant Desai, in which she matched the flow of the shehnai played by none other than Ustad Bismillah Khan.

Madan Mohan specifically made tunes for her; among magical melodies created by the duo is ‘Pritam daras dikhao’ (Chacha Zindabad, 1959), a piece in Raag Lalit, accompanied by the great Manna Dey, is worth mentioning. The taans in this Teental composition are extraordinary. Any attempt to sing it seems futile.

‘Will Lata sing? Then I am safe,’ said S D Burman once. For only she could give voice to his thoughts on ‘Tum Na Jane’ (Sazaa, 1951), inspired by Rabindra Sangeet. When R D Burman scored the evergreen ‘Raina beeti jaaye’ (Amar Prem, 1972), moving in and out of Rag Todi, it could again only be handled by her. Every version of ‘Shyam na aye’ in this composition is a treat. Singing and singing effortlessly are entirely different. Singing effortlessly to perfection is yet another thing. This is what Lata ji did to the classical style—she created her own three-minute masterpieces.