Sadhana and Lataji shared an astonishingly bounteous onscreen rapport. Some of Lataji’s best songs were for Sadhana: Mere Mann Ke Diye (Parakh), Mere Mehboob Tujhe Meri Mohabbat Ki Kasam (Mere Mehboob), Mera Saaya Saath Hoga (Mera Saaya), Main Toh Tum Sangg (Main Mauji), Tera Mera Pyar Amar (Asli Naqli), O Mere Bairagi Bhanwara (Ishq Par Zor Nahin), Suniye Zara Dekhiye Na (Geeta Mera Naam), and so many others.
But the toughest song that Lataji had to sing for Sadhana was Aji Rooth Kar Abb Kahan Jayiyega in Arzoo.
Lataji explained, “It had the most impossibly high notes I’ve ever sung. I remember challenging (composers) Shankar-Jaikishan about it. They said, ‘You can do it.’ I remember my cheeks had turned red while negotiating those notes.
The legendary Sadhana was a vision on screen.
A vision that justified the indescribably beautiful voice of Lata Mangeshkar in film after film, from Hum Dono (Allah Tero Naam), Parakh (O Sajna Barkha Bahaar Aayi), Prem Patra (Abb Aur Na Kuch Bhi Yaad Raha), Man Mauji (Main Toh Tum Sang Nain Milake), Asli Naqli (Tera Mera Pyar Amar), Mere Mehboob (Mere Mehboob Tujhe Meri Mohabbat Ki Kasam), Woh Kaun Thi (Lag Ja Gale Se), Raj Kumar (Aaja Aye Bahaar), Mera Saaya (Tu Jahan Jahan Chalega), Anita (Main Dekhoon Jis Aur Sakhi Ri), Inteqaam (Kaise Rahun Chup)…
The list of songs that Lataji sang for Sadhana is not only exemplary but also illustrative of the unique relationship that Lataji shared with some of her heroines.
One of the Sadhana-Lata Mangeshkar classics, Naina Barse in Woh Kaun Thi, had to be filmed in Shimla with composer Madan Mohan standing in for Lataji, who couldn’t find the time to record the song.
Speaking of Sadhana, whom Lataji was extremely fond of, the songstress had shared, “Although I liked singing for all heroines, I have to admit some were more special than others. I loved to sing for Nutan and Sadhana as they understood the songs and expressed the pauses and the lifts pitch-perfectly. With Sadhana, there was a very special bonding almost from the beginning. I didn’t sing for her in her first film Love in Shimla. But I sang for her in almost every film after that, right into the 1970s. Before she retired, I sang her big hit song Suniye Zara Dekhiya Na in Geeta Mera Naam, which Sadhana had also directed.”
The reclusive Sadhana had once opened on her onscreen voice. “Lataji is my voice on screen. What would my stardom be worth if she didn’t sing Lag Ja Gale Se or O Sajna Barkha Bahaar Ayee for me? Lataji had the rare ability to make us heroines look beautiful on screen. In her songs, she emoted for me. I just had to follow the emotions that she sang for me.”
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