In 2001, Indian government conferred l the highest civilian honour – the ‘Bharat Ratna’ upon Lata Mangeshkar. And three state governments- Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Goa- have each separately instituted an annual ‘Lata Mangeshkar award’ for felicitating senior artists in popular music for lifetime achievement. Lata Mangeshkar Award is given annually by the Madhya Pradesh culture department, to promote and grace the excellence in the field of music. It carries a cash prize of Rs 2 lakh and a citation. Madhya pradesh is the place where the legend is having her birthplace at Indore.
On Wednesday, an administration official confirmed, that the eminent playback singer Shailendra Singh and music composer duo Anand-Milind will be garnered with the National Lata Mangeshkar Award on September 28, the birth anniversary of the late singer, at her birthplace Indore in Madhya Pradesh.
Shailendra Singh, who is known for his distinct voice and sang many of the popular playback numbers in 1970s and 80s, will be given the Lata Mangeshkar Award for the year 2019. On the other hand, Anand-Milind, who has been the music composer for more than 200 films, will be accoladed with the prestigious award for the year 2020, the official said.
The Madhya Pradesh government last time organised the Lata Mangeshkar Award function on February 7, 2020 after that long hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic the award show is again to be organised.
Since 1942, her voice ruled over 5,000 songs in over a thousand Hindi and 36 regional films. She had an unprecedented impact on Indian film music. Over the years, Lata had sung for actresses from Nargis to Karina Kapoor. Unlike any other singer, she was more than a playback singer beyond the race of glamour and fame. By her personality and piousness she made the nation bound to believe in her divine presence. And she was really celebrated and worshipped like the Goddess ‘Maa Saraswati’ herself.
‘The melody queen of India’ Lata Mangeshkar left all on 6th February, 2022, creating a void in the industry that can never be fulfilled. Two days of mourning in India was observed to pay condolences to the legend.
