‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’: When Lata Mangeshkar revealed the truth about her most beloved patriotic song

‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’ by the iconic artist Lata Mangeshkar is more than a song, it is an emotion. The song touched millions of hearts and even after decades of its release, it is the first song that comes to mind when someone thinks about a patriotic song. Also, it is worth noting that one cannot imagine anyone but Lata Mangeshkar giving vocals to the iconic song. However, did you know the real truth behind how Lata Ji got the song and how if she had said no to it, the whole idea of ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logo’ would have been scrapped? Here’s the truth from one of her old exclusive conversations:

Did you ever imagine ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’ would acquire the immortality that it did?
“Kissko pataa tha yeh gaana logon ko itna pasand ayega?(who knew the song would be so much liked by people?). When ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’ was being created we never thought it would become such an imperishable patriotic anthem.”

Do you remember the first time you sang it on stage?
“I recall vividly that cold winter evening in Delhi when I sang the song as part of the Republic Day celebrations in front of an audience that comprised President S. Radhakrishnan, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and so many other distinguished guests.”

There is a lot of misinformation as to how you ended up singing this incredible ode to ‘desh bhakti’?
“It was Pradeepji, the poet who wrote the immortal lyrics, who came to me and asked me to sing the song. I declined because there was no time to rehearse and prepare to sing it in front of so many distinguished personalities. You see, at that time I was working round the clock. To give special attention to one song seemed impossible. We had very little time to get ‘Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon’ ready. Rather than do a rush job I wanted to opt out. But Pradeepji said if I didn’t sing the song he would scrap the idea. I reluctantly agreed to sing it.”

It is believed by some misinformed sections that your sister Asha Bhosle was supposed to sing ‘Ae Watan Ke Logon’?
“I suggested we format the song into a duet with me and Asha. But Pradeepji wanted it to be a solo. I insisted that we do it as a duet. Asha had even rehearsed for the song. But then days before we were to fly to Delhi she came to me and said, ‘Didi. I’m not coming to Delhi.’ I tried to convince her to change her mind arguing that her name had even been printed in the newspapers as one of the singers for Ae mere watan. But she was adamant. I told composer-singer Hemant Kumar who had actually orchestrated the whole’ Ae mere watan ke logon’ project about Asha’s decision to not accompany us to Delhi to perform the song. Hemantda also tried to convince Asha. Lekin woh nahin manee.”

What happened next?
“Then it was left to me to rehearse alone for the song. Pradeepji told C Ramachandra who was composing the tune for Pradeepji’s words, about my predicament. C. Ramachandra informed us he had to be in Delhi at least 4-5 days in advance before our performance. So he was unable to rehearse the song with me. Instead, he gave me a tape of the number. I picked up the tune from the tape and flew to Delhi on 26 January with all the big names from the film industry. Dilip Kumar, Raj Kapoor, Mehboob Khan, Shankar-Jaikishan, Madan Mohan...we were all in one aircraft.”

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