She came to be known as the 'Nightingale of India' for her melodious voice, her voice created so many personalities in Bollywood, she lent her voice to so many actresses, she is none other than Lata Mangeshkar and she is turning 82 today!

Born in a musical family, with a father as great as Pandit Deenanath Mangeshkar, music changed everything about her, right from her name itself. She was named as 'Hema' at the time of her birth but her name was later changed to Lata, after a female character Latika from one of her father's plays Bhaaw Bandhan. 

Lata's first-ever stage performance was at the age of 8 in Pandharpur, Maharashtra. She played the role of a yuvraj (prince).  The play was staged by her father's company Punyaprabhav, but he was kept in the dark about Lata enacting the role. Lata Mangeshkar is the eldest child of her parents. Meena, Asha, Usha and Hridayanath are her siblings in sequence. She took her first music lessons from her father. At the age of five, she started to work as an actress in her father's musical plays. On the first day of school when she started teaching other children songs, the teacher stopped her. This made her so angry that she stopped going to school. 

At the young age of 13, Lata lost her father and this made her want to get in to the music industry even faster. Mangeshkar moved to Mumbai in 1945 when Master Vinayak's company, the company of a family friend, moved its headquarters there. She started taking lessons in Hindustani classical music from Ustad Amanat Ali Khan Bhendibazaarwale. Following the partition of India in 1947, Ustad Amanat Ali Khan Bhendibazaarwale migrated to newly formed Pakistan, so Mangeshkar started to learn classical music under Amanat Khan Devaswale. Pandit Tulsidas Sharma, a pupil of Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, also trained her.

Lata Mangeshkar got her first break in the film industry with the help of Ghulam Haider, her mentor, through his movie Majboor in 1948. Lata Mangeshkar first met Kishore Kumar in 1948. Her first duet with him was from the film Ziddi. After this, the duo gave several hit duets. She sang around 440 duets with Mohammed Rafi in 315 films. From 1970s onwards, Lata Mangeshkar has also staged many concerts in India and abroad, including several charity concerts. 

Lata Mangeshkar has won several awards and honors, including Padma Bhushan in 1969, Padma Vibhushan in 1999, Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 1989, Maharashtra Bhushan Award in 1997, three National Awards, Filmfare Lifetime achievement Award, etc... 

Lata Mangeshkar was given the title of being the Nightingale of India and has represented India in a beautiful, melodious way. A Very Happy Birthday to the Nightingale, Lata Mangeshkar from Fridaymoviez!