Four Legends of Indian Music

Where words fail, music speaks. Music expresses that which can not be said. The greatest respect an artist can pay for music is to give it life. We have witnessed many singers and amongst these, there are few singers who have devoted their lives to singing. Hindi songs have evolved a lot in the past five decades. The legends of music from Pandit Ravi Shankar (Sitar Virtuosi) to Hariprasad Chaurasia (Flute player), Ustad Bismillah Khan (Shehnai player) and MS Subbulakshmi (Carnatic singer) have enthralled us. But here is the list of four singers who have taken Bollywood music to another level.

1.       Lata Mangeshkar

Queen of melody, Voice of the Nation, Voice of the Millennium, Nightingale of India, recipient of three National Film Awards, twelve Bengal Film Journalists’ Association Awards, four Filmfare Best Female Playback Awards, two Filmfare Special Awards, Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award and many more. First Indian to perform in Royal Albert Hall in 1974. She was awarded Bharat Ratna, highest Indian Civilian honor in 2001 and Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 1989 by the Indian government. The list is never-ending. Lata Mangeshkar is one of the most respected playback singers in India and has recorded Hindi songs for more than thousand Hindi films, has sung songs in more than thirty-six languages.

Lata Mangeshkar was born on 28^th September 1929, in the state of Indore part of the Central India Agency. She has four siblings Asha Bhosle, Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Usha Mangeshkar and Meena Mangeshkar of which she is the eldest. Her father, Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar, was a traditional artist and theater performer.

2.       Mohammad Rafi

One of the most popular and successful singers of Hindi film industry. A man who has been related with playback singing for fifty years, his voice has been the antitoxin for numerous horrible infections and an alleviating demulcent for broken hearts. His commitment to the Hindi film industry has been remarkable and maybe no vocalist till date has figured out how to catch the hearts of fans the way Mohammed Rafi has. Mohammad Rafi is a recipient of six Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer, four Bengal Film Journalists’ Association-Best Male Playback Award, one National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer, One National Film Award. He was honoured with Padma Shri award in 1967 in his musical career.

He has recorded melodies for over a thousand Hindi movies and has sung in different provincial Indian languages and also remote dialects, however principally in Hindi songs, Hindi-Urdu and Punjabi over which he had a solid charge. Mohammed Rafi was the second oldest of six siblings born to Haji Ali Mohammad. The family initially had a place with Kotla Sultan Singh, a town close present-day Majitha in Amritsar locale of Punjab, India.

3.       A R Rahman

The recipient of six National Film Awards, two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, fifteen Filmfare Awards and seventeen Filmfare Awards South. He has been awarded the Padma Bhushan, the third most elevated regular citizen grant, in 2010 by the Government of India. In 2009, Rahman was included on the Times 100 rundown of the world's most compelling individuals. He was also awarded Tomorrow’s World Music Icons in August 2011 by UK based world music magazine Songline. South Indian devotees of Rahman have aptly nicknamed him as "The Mozart of Madras", and "Isai Puyal"

A R Rahman is a World-renowned musician of India. He won an Oscar award for his music score in Slumdog Millionaire. Rahman was born in Madras. His father, R K Shekhar, was a film score composer for Tamil and Malayalam and films.

4.       Kishor Kumar

Kishor Kumar is a recipient of eight Filmfare Awards for Best Male Playback Singer and holds the record for winning the most Filmfare Awards in that category. Madhya Pradesh government awarded him with “Lata Mangeshkar” award in the year 1985-86. And in the year 1997, they initiated an award called the "Kishore Kumar Award" as a tribute to his contribution to Hindi cinema. In Osian’s Cinefan Auction (New Delhi in 2012) his unreleased song was sold for a record Rs 1.56 million (15.6 lakh).

Kishore Kumar was born in a very Bengali family in Khandwa, Central Provinces (now in Madhya Pradesh) as Abhas Kumar Ganguly. His father, Kunjalal Ganguly (Gangopadhyay) was a lawyer and his mother originated from an affluent Bengali family. Kishore was the youngest of four siblings, the older three being Ashok (the eldest), Sati Devi, and Anoop. Whereas Kishore was so far a tyke, his sib Ashok became a movie industry on-screen character. Afterward, Anoop likewise wandered into the film with Ashok's help. He moved on from Christian College, Indore.