Lata and Hema Malini.

Lata and Hema Malini.

Lata Mangeshkar had dominated bollywood music for more than 50 years. Nearly all the leading actresses of bollywood films from Madhubala to Madhuri Dixit had been indebted to the legendary singer. Hema Malini had also given lips in numerous landmark hits of Lata.

In Naya Zamana, the title song of the film composed by SD Burman and picturised on Hema Malini was a big hit. Dharmender played the central character in the film. In the film Gora Aur Kala, the song “dheere dheere bol koi sun na le” sung by Lata and Mukesh, composed by Laxmikant Pyarelal and picturised on Hema Malini and Rajender Kumar was also successful.


In Seeta Aur Geeta, Hema Malini gave lips on successful songs of Lata composed by RD Burman, including “ek ladka mujhe kal raat sapno me mili”. Hema Malini was sublime in Sholay and all the songs sung by Lata and composed by Rd Burman were successful. The song “jab tak hai jaan” was not only melodious but also showed the choreographic skills of the legendary dancer.


Lata also sang semi-classical songs for Hema Malini in films of Gulzar, including Kinara, where the song of Lata and Bhupinder Singh titled “naam gum jayega, chehera yeh badal jayega”, is considered one of the most quality songs of that period, where the powerful lyrics of Gulzar had matched the class of composition of RD Burman. Jeetender and Hema Malini got the role of their life in Kinara, where Dharmender played the role of the husband of Hema Malini who got killed in a road accident against the car of Jeetender.


Even in the film Abhinetri, Lata’s song “sa re ga ma pa”, picturised on Hema Malini was a big hit. Shashi Kapoor acted opposite Hema Malini in the film. The combination of Lata and Hema was successful also in the film Johny Mera Naam, Raja Jani, Jugnu, etc., where the songs have become immortal over the years.

The songs and the films should be restored for the future generations.

By: Supriya Chatterji.

Related Reading

• Lata Mangeshkar – the uncrowned queen of Indian playback singing
• Hema Malini – the powerful dancer of 70s and 80s.