Odisha on Sunday mourned the death of Lata Mangeshkar who had immortalised two Odia film songs by her melodious voice way back in the 1960s.
To begin with Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to singers and music directors of the state, all paid their tributes to the legend who died at a Mumbai hospital at the age of 92.
Among her over 30,000 songs in at least 36 languages, there are two that she had sung for Odia films.
People shared those two songs – ‘Sei Chuna Chuna Tara Phula’ (Those small stars and flowers) from ‘Suryamukhi’ (1963) and ‘Aaji Mun Shrabani’ (Today I am like the rainy season) from ‘Arundhati (1967) on social media, while television channels played them throughout the day.
Both songs were composed by the state’s eminent music director Shantanu Mohapatra, said noted film analyst Surya Deo.
The movies had won the National award for best Odia feature film in those two years, he added.
A Twitter user shared the picture of Mangeshkar during the recording of the song, ‘Sei Chuna Chuna Tara Phula Aaji’, at her residence in Mumbai. Lyricist Gurukrushna Goswami, Hridaynath Mangeshkar, musicians Mohapatra and Jatin Das are also in the photograph.
Mr.Deo said Lata Mangeshkar took a day to understand the emotion behind the song before agreeing to record it.
“Her Odia accent was faultless and perfect that left many surprised. Her voice was above all languages, all religions and creeds. I was fortunate to meet her,” said Veteran Singer Pranab Pattnaik.
Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal described her demise as the “end of an era.” In a Twitter post, Prof.Lal said: “I am extremely sad to hear the news of #LataMangeskar ji, her euphonious voice will continue to live in our hearts & will be remembered for generations to come.”
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said she will live through her melody for eternity.
“Deeply saddened to know about the passing away of legendary singer #LataMangeskar. The ‘Melody Queen of India’ leaves a void in our collective consciousness,” Mr.Patnaik tweeted.
Union Minister Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw paid floral tribute to the iconic singer at the BJP’s state party headquarters here.
Noted Odia singer Trupti Das broke down after hearing the news of Lata Mangeshkar’s death.
“Goddess Saraswati came down to earth on Saturday on the occasion of Basant Panchami and took her daughter along with her early on Sunday morning. It’s a great loss for the entire world, not just for India or Odisha,” she said.
Leading Lyricist Mohit Chakroborty lamented that Mangeshkar’s wish to sing a devotional song dedicated to Lord Jagannath remained unfulfilled.
“Everything was ready and Lata Ji has given her consent to sing Lord Jagannath’s Bhajan. Out of eight songs, two were selected by her to be sung. However, it could not be done due to the lockdown,” Mr.Chakroborty told a news channel.
Internationally accailmed sand artist Sudarshan Pattnaik also paid a sandy tribute to Lata Mangeskar in a statue at the Puri sea beach.