“I wanted to marry K.L. Saigal” – Lata Mangeshkar

By Devansh Patel -

June 3, 2009 - 4:42 PM IST

Lata Mangeshkar, the Nightingale of our Indian Film Industry is loved by one and all for her melodious voice ever since she started singing. But do you know the name of the singer she fell in love with in her childhood days? Do you know the person whom she fancied? And did you know with whom she wanted to tie the nuptial knot? After digging a lot, our sources from London sourced out some exclusive information about Lata Mangeshkar's loveable musical journey. An insight which very few till today have known. Let's then take it from the top, shall we?

“I wanted to marry K.L. Saigal” – Lata Mangeshkar

The Mangeshkar family will always be remembered for their undying and invaluable contribution to the world of music. Back in the early 1930's, the family of singers too had their own idol, singer K.L. Saigal. His songs were very popular in the Mangeshkar household. What's more, in times of conservative India back then, they were only allowed to sing songs sung by Saigal. So with no other singer's voice heard in the entire household, Lata Mangeshkar started to weave her dreams of getting married to K.L.Saigal in her early childhood days. The nightingale quotes, "As far as I can remember, I always wanted to meet K.L.Saigal. As a child, I used to say that 'I will get married to him after I grow up' and that's when my father explained to me that when I'll be big enough to get married, Saigal saab will be too old enough to get married."

Having said that, it'll be quite a shock for you to know that after having sung more than sixty thousand songs in her career, Lataji was never able to meet up with her dream man. In her own words, she says, "I will always regret not to have met K.L.Saigal, the man of my dreams. But yes, with the help of his brother Mahendra Saigal, I did get a chance to meet his wife Ashaji and his children who gifted me K.L.Saigal saab's ring."

Mangeshkar family was never supportive of film songs back then. It was only Lataji and her father, whom she calls 'baba', used to listen to the songs sung by K.L.Saigal. Lataji recalls, "Baba used to love Saigal saab's songs. Even I used to sing his songs. I remember singing 'Ek Bangla Bane Nyaara'. I was the only member of my family who was allowed to sing Saigal saab's songs."

Speaking about reservations and how strict her father was, Lataji says, "My father was very conservative types and never allowed us to apply any powder or make up when we wanted to go out to see a play. He was also very strict about the type of clothes we wanted to wear. He didn't allow us to watch any Hindi films because he himself didn't like them. We were only given the permission to go and watch Bhalji Pendharkar's Marathi films."

Strange isn't it? With so many restrictions in the family, if we throw light on Lata Mangeshkar's life and career, you'll be surprised to know that her first claim to fame was the 1949 Hindi film Mahal in which she sung the chart buster song 'Aayega Aanewala...aayega....aayega'.