Birthday Special: Lata Mangeshkar@86

Legendary singer, Lata Mangeshkar turns 86 today. Recipient of the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in the country, she has lent her voice to generations of Bollywood actresses from Madhubala to Kajol. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung in over 36 regional and foreign languages. Though the singing has become less over the years, the melody queen has no plans to retire. There are innumerable songs in her awesome repertoire which cannot be denied either on merit or success but here’s looking at some of Lata’s personal favourites.

Diya Jale (Dil Se, 1998; A.R.Rahman) – This is by far Lata’s one of the most favourite numbers of the 90s. She’d enjoyed working with A R Rahman in Chennai calling his style “amazing”. “At first I didn’t think all that much of the tune,” Lata had then confessed. “But when I heard the recorded song I was floored. I got to sing an outstanding number after quite a while,” she was quoted saying.