Lata Mangeshkar: My Favourites, Vol. 2 - Hardcover

by Anirudha Bhattacharjee (Author), Chandrashekhar Rao (Author)

A history of Hindi film music recounted from a list of 50 of Lata Mangeshakar's songs that she chose as her favorites.

Lata Mangeshkar, one of India's all-time most influential singers was known as "the Nightingale of India." For her album My Favourites, Vol. 2, Lata chooses 50 songs as her favourites among her own work, from a repository of over 5,000. This book covers an expanse of nearly forty years, connecting you to the real-life events behind the songs, going back to when music listening in India was limited to the radio, the 78 RPM shellac, the occasional visit to the cinema, and later, the vinyl records, cassettes, and the 30 minutes Chitrahaaron television every week.

Author Biography

Anirudha Bhattacharjee is a Distinguished Alumnus Awardee of IIT Kharagpur, India, a Business Consultant by profession and the author of R D Burman: The Man the Music (2011), which won the National Book Award for best book on cinema; Gaata Rahe Mera Dil (2015); S D Burman: The Prince-Musician (2018); Kishore Kumar: The Ultimate Biography (2022), and Basu Chatterji: And middle of the road cinema (2023).

Chandrashekhar Rao is a practising dermatologist with a passion for playing (on the accordion), listening to, and archiving Hindi film songs. During his several decades-long stay in Dubai he has been a regular contributor to Khaleej Times and Gulf News, among others, where he conducted interviews with many luminaries of Indian music, from Pandit Ravi Shankar to Lata Mangeshkar. He is the primary editor of a recent biography of prominent lyricist Shailendra written by the latter's daughter.