Rare and unseen pictures of melody queen Lata Mangeshkar

Lata Mangeshkar is Hindi cinema’s greatest playback singer with 25,000 songs in over seven decades. When she was 13, her father Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar died of heart disease. It was Master Vinayak (Vinayak Damodar Karnataki), an Indian actor and film director and a close friend to the Mangeshkar family, who took care of them and helped Lata start her music career. Lata moved to Mumbai in 1945 and started taking lessons in Hindustani classical music from Ustad Aman Ali Khan of Bhendibazaar Gharana. She sang 'Paa Lagoon Kar Jori' for the film 1946 film 'Aap Ki Seva Mein.'

In This Pic : Lata Mangeshkar

After Master Vinayak died in 1948, music director Ghulam Haider mentored Lata as a singer. He gave her the first major break with the song 'Dil Mera Toda, Mujhe Kahin Ka Na Chhora,' in the 1948 movie 'Majboor,' which became her first breakthrough film hit. In the 1950s, Lata sang songs composed by various music directors. She sang in every genre through the 1950s and 1960s.

In This Pic : Lata Mangeshkar

Melody queen Lata Mangeshkar had earlier shared a throwback picture with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Lata Mangeshkar posed for a picture with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

In This Pic : Lata Mangeshkar

Take a look at this candid picture of Lata Mangeshkar, RD Burman and Rajesh Khanna.

In This Pic : RD Burman, Rajesh Khanna, lata mangeshkar​