We Don’t Always Take Good Care Of Our Artistes,” Says Lata Mangeshkar

Last month on the occasion of  her  father Pandit Dinanath Mangeshkar’s birth  anniversary Lata Mangeshkar honoured two artistes from her own fraternity whose work she personally admires.

 One was Anupam Kher whose diehard  fan  Lataji is proud to be.

“There are few artistes in our country with his range versatility and  prolificness. He was  a young 21-year when he played a 65-year old man in Saaraansh  .I truly admire how he slips  from one comic character to another serious  character to another serio-comic character. Then he  flies  off to Hollywood to do big American films with the  biggest of the actors there . He writes books, takes acting classes. His energy enthusiasm and  passion are exemplary. I am a big fan of Anupam  Kher, and I  told him so. It  was  a great  pleasure for us Mangeshkars to honour Anupamji with our annual  award in honour  of my father,” says Lataji.

 While Anupam has been singularly blessed with fame  and fortune, not every artiste in Bollywood gets what  he deserves. Poet-lyricist Yogesh who has written some exquisite songs  in the films  of Hrishikesh Mukherjee andBasu Chatterjee finds himself in anonymity these days.

Says Lataji, “We were as proud and happy to honour Yogeshji as  we were  to honour Anupamji. Yogeshji has written some  very fine songs for  me  like Rajnigandha  phool tumhare(Rajnigandha), Raaton ke saayeghane(Annadata), Tumne piya diya sab kuch mujhko(Us Paar) and  Ae sham  ki hawaon unse salaam kehna(EkRaat).  He also wrote one of my all-time favourite film lyrics Kahin dur jab din dhal jaye which Mukesh Bhaiyyasang in the  film Anand.Today’s generation may  not know  about Yogeshji’s work. But I think he excelled in ways that are not time-bound.”

Lataji laments  the fact that we don’t always  honour our artistes  in the manner that they deserve. “We tend  to forget their contribution just because they are  not active any more. This  is  not right. An artiste is recognized  not only for what he or she does today  or tomorrow  but for all times  to come.”