Remembering Lata Mangeshkar: 5 songs of the veteran singer that Malayalis hold close to our hearts

6th February 2022, the day started on a bleak note, as the whole nation was heartbroken at the loss of India’s Nightingale, Lata Mangeshkar. The entire nation is mourning the loss of the veteran singer, Lata Mangeshkar, who has recorded songs in over 36 languages and a few other foreign languages. For leaving a lifelong memory of the musical maestro in the hearts of all Malayalis, Lata Mangeshkar had to only croon one single song ‘Kadali Chenkadali’ from the movie ‘Nellu’ directed by Ramu Kariat. Today, as the veteran singer, Lata Mangeshkar is no more, let's take a look at 5 of her songs that we Malayalis hold close to our hearts.

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Whenever we Malayalis reminisce about the name Lata Mangeshkar, it's the song ‘Kadali Chenkadali’ that strikes a chord in our memory lane. Lata Mangeshkar literally grabbed the hearts of every Malayali audience with just one song. The song ‘Kadali Chenkadali’ was sung by Lata Mangeshkar for the movie ‘Nellu’ which was directed by Ramu Kariat. As per the sources, the songwriter had plans to rope in Lata Mangeshkar to sing the song ‘Kadalinakkare Ponore’ in the movie ‘Chemmeen’, but due to some reasons, Lata Mangeshkar didn't agree for that. The film ‘Nellu’ had a talented star cast that included Prem Nazir, Thrikkurissy Sukumaran Nair, and Sankaradi.

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Another one of the iconic songs of Lata Mangeshkar that we Malayalis remember is ‘Jiya Jale’ from the Shah Rukh Khan starrer film ‘Dil Se’. The fact that the song was completely shot in Kerala added to the relatability factor for all Malayalis. The Malayalam portions in the song ‘Jiya Jale’ were sung by MG Sreekumar and the Hindi portions by Lata Mangeshkar. The music was composed by AR Rahman and the film ‘Dil Se’ was directed by Mani Ratnam.

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The classic romantic track ‘Tujhe Dekha Toh’ from the Shah Rukh Khan- Kajol starrer ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’, is obviously one of the favorite songs of a majority of Indians. In several Malayalam movies, we can see directors taking reference from the song ‘Tujhe Dekha Toh’, hence indicating how much we Malayalis love this romantic song sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Kumar Sanu.

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When the legendary singers' Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar decided to join hands, the soulful track ‘Kora Kagaz Tha’ was born. The song was so popular in Kerala that the movie ‘Ayalathe Sundari’, released in the year 1974, used this song in one of its romantic sequences. The Malayalam version of the song featured the renowned actor Adoor Bhasi, who played a character named Palgo in the film. The film ‘Ayalathe Sundari’ was directed by Hariharan and had actors Prem Nazir, Jayabharathi, Srividya, and Adoor Bhasi playing major lead roles.

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The song ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ is yet another song that is really popular among the Malayali audience. There is even a Malayalam Kunchacko Boban starrer film by the same name which was directed by Meccartin and was released in the year 2000. The song ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ was composed by Laxmikant- Pyarelal under the lyrics penned down by Pandit Narendra Sharma. The video song featured actors Shashi Kapoor and Zeenat Aman. ‘Satyam Shivam Sundaram’ is undoubtedly one of the best songs crooned by the veteran singer Lata Mangeshkar.

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