I still miss Rafi and Kishore, Lata tells Radio City listeners

Mumbai, July 29 (UNI) Melody queen Lata Mangeshkar who has over the years mesmerised people with her voice, gave her audience a chance to listen to her once more, this time in a different tune, with noted singer Sonu Nigam being her host.

In a tete-e-tete with Sonu organised by Radio City yesterday for their listeners, Lata confessed that though she loves singing even at this age, she misses legendary singers and her friends like Mohd Rafi and Kishore Kumar, with whom she used to enjoy recording songs.

''I miss my friends like Mohd Rafi and Kishore who are no more,'' she said in a nostalgic mood, remembering the old times and how she had learnt music from some of the most famous and talented musicians in the country.

Getting into the grip of a radio interview, she talked about her life saying, ''Born in Indore, my father use to run his own drama company and he taught me music. He loved me a lot and use to call me 'Lata baba'. He passed away when I was 13 years old and I had to join films after that.'' ''He never hit us when we were kids, he used to talk through his eyes and we used to only see his eyes and start crying,'' she remembered.

On her association with some music stalwarts, she said, ''I learnt a lot from music directors like Anil Biswas. For example, he taught me while singing when I should release my breath. I did 'riyaz' on that, that was in 1948.'' On being prodded by Sonu about her relations with showman Raj Kapoor, the nightingale of Indian music industry said, ''I had a fight with Raj Kapoor because I wanted royalty on the songs which I sung for him, to which Raj Kapoor said - if all stars come to us and start asking for royalty, you think we will give them? But I was still adamant and Raj Kapoor had to finally give in.'' On her another strained tint with Raj, Lata said, ''Actually, during the making of 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram', Rajji told me he wanted Hridaynath Mangeshkar as music director since the music in the film was classical. To which I said ok and I had to leave for US on a music tour. I don't know what happened but the film was eventually given to Laxmikant Pyeralal. I spoke to Rajji about this and I was very angry and decided that I would not sing for the film.'' However, she said music directors Laxmikant Pyrelal cajoled her to sing, and it was only after the advice of her guru that she sang for the movie, getting the song passed in one take.

When Sonu asked her the secret of her refined Hindi and Urdu accent, she fondly replied, ''Mohammed Rafi use to treat me as his sister. He sent somebody to teach me Urdu, there I learnt how to speak Urdu and a little bit of Arabic. I have also learnt a little bit of Tamil as I wanted to see a Tamil movie. But I know very little Tamil. I did it because people would also wonder that since I am a Marathi, my diction would not be correct.'' She also appreciated the compositions of music director S D Burman and his son R D Burman (Pancham) and said their knowledge about music was immese and they knew all nuances of a song.

On a personal front, divulging a bit into her likings, Lata said, she loves to travel, but cannot do it much these days, as she has been suffering from arthritis.

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