Lata Mangeshkar is undoubtedly the greatest playback singer in the world today. To be a great influential force for five decades is a distinction achieved by few male artistes and definitely no other female artiste in the Hindi film industry. The white sari clad playback singer has given her voice and expression to myriad emotions. Her vocal range has been as dazzling as her diamonds. It is not just Lata`s three-octave spanning voice but sheer determination that got her to this position of eminence.

The peals of girlish giggles, still a characteristic, were present when Lata was a playful tomboy studying music from her father Master Dinanath Mangeshkar. Unfortunately for young Lata, her father passed away when she had barely reached adolescence. It was incumbent upon her to be the breadwinner for her mother and four younger siblings. Beginning with Pahili Manglagaur (1942), Lata acted in as many as eight Hindi and Marathi films in the 1940s while simultaneously struggling to establish herself as a playback singer.

Travelling by Mumbai`s local trains, the scrawny but determined struggler who would always be accompanied by a sister, finally won her first break as a playback singer with Aap Ki Sewa Mein (1947). With established singers like Amirbai Karnataki, Shamshad Begum and Rajkumari around, Lata`s thin voice strained to be heard. However, leading composer Ghulam Haider reposed his faith in Lata and gave her songs in Majboor and Padmini (Bedard tere pyar ko), that brought her some attention.

But the true efflorescence of Lata`s talent was witnessed in 1949 when she unleashed a fusillade of superhit songs in three musical blockbusters: Naushad`s Andaaz (Uthaye ja unke sitam and four other songs), Shanker-Jaikishan`s Barsaat (Hawa mein udta jaaye and eight other hits) and Khemchand Prakash`s Mahal (Aayega aanewala). Lata may have still had traces of her idol Noorjehan in her singing but several composers had spotted the uncut diamond and done their best to burnish it with diction lessons and umpteen rehearsals. At 20, Lata had decidedly arrived as she sang for topline composers of the day like Naushad, C Ramchandra, Anil Biswas and Husnlal Bhagatram.

The 1950s were a fortuitous time for Lata as, with lightening speed, she became the first choice of most major music directors. She created a seismic shake-up in the playback singing ranks, scoring a major tally of successes with blockbuster numbers in Awara (1951), Baiju Bawra (1952), Anarkali (1953), Nagin (1954), Shri 420 (1955). She soon surpassed Shamshad Begum and Geeta Dutt and became a legend while still in her twenties.

In-between multiple recordings, Lata found time to compose music for the Marathi film Ram Ram Pahuna, under the name Anandghan; she even produced films like Vaadal, Jhanjhar and Kanchan. When Filmfare announced its Best Playback Singer Award, it was but natural that the first recipient be Lata who won it for Madhumati`s dulcet siren song, Aajare pardesi in 1958. As the 1960s dawned, Lata went from strength to strength, still unquestionably the numero uno, and formed formidable teams with music directors like Madan Mohan and Roshan. The Nargis-Madhubala-Geeta Bali generation may have been succeeded by a new generation of heroines like Sadhana, Asha Parekh and Sharmila Tagore, but Lata was a constant.

She never made any compromises. With her squeaky clean image, Lata was steadfast about choosing the songs she wanted to sing. If she sang the rare cabaret number like Aa jaane jaan, it was more to explore the limits of her versatility. Further, she dared to disagree with giants like Raj Kapoor, Mohammed Rafi and S D Burman. For a while, they did not record with Lata. That did not affect Lata`s career at all. Fortunately for film music, they soon made up with Lata.

Besides her hits, Lata also won critical acclaim for her rendition of maestro Pandit Ravi Shanker`s tunes in Hrishikesh Mukherjee`s Anuradha. Then Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru was famously moved by Lata`s rendition of the non-film patriotic number Aye mere watan ke logon, and she was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1969. In the seventies and early eighties, Lata`s position at the top was unshakeable as the three leading music directors of the period, Laxmikant Pyarelal, R D Burman and Kalyanji Anandji, lavished their best on her. Whether it was Satyam Shivam Sundaram, Sholay or Muqaddar Ka Sikander, Lata was a common factor. Lata`s Royal Albert Hall concert in London paved the way for other shows.

In the disco era of the mid 1980s, Lata drastically cut down on her workload though she did have the occasional hit like Ram Teri Ganga Maili. The Lata-dominated scores of Chandni and Maine Pyaar Kiya coincided with resurgence of romance at the close of the decade.

Since then, Lata has attached herself to, and worked largely, with quality banners like RK (Henna), Rajshris (Hum Aapke Hain Koun...!) and Yash Chopra (Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Dil Toh Pagal Hai). With new music directors like A R Rahman, Lata proved herself equal to still creating something exquisite like Zubeidaa`s So gaye hain.

Today, Lata has busied herself with The Master Dinanath Hospital. The diva is fond of watching cricket and is an avid photographer. Lata, who is still single, continues to be devoted to her art. Even today, she removes her chappals before entering the recording room.