Why I Don't Miss Lata Mangeshkar in 'Jab Tak Hai Jaan'

Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar has been the voice for Yash Raj Films for decades now, singing almost every song in Yash Chopra's films and even some in son Aditya Chopra's films since at least the 1970s. For the most part, Mangeshkar has had a monopoly over Yash Raj Films singing for a variety of actresses in the Yash Raj production house including Sridevi, Rekha, Karishma Kapoor, Juhi Chawla, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Preity Zinta, Jaya Bachchan, Madhuri Dixit and Kajol.

That all changed with Jab Tak Hai Jaan, Yash Chopra's last film, which was released posthumously (Chopra passed away just a few weeks before the Diwali release date.) Chopra enlisted Academy Award-winning composer A.R. Rahman for the new film and cast hot young actresses Katrina Kaif and Anushka Sharma alongside Shah Rukh Khan.

Like with every Rahman soundtrack, I wondered who would be behind the mike. Rahman has always been terrific at finding the perfect singers for each track whether its an old-school Alka Yagnik and Hariharan track in Guru or bringing newcomer Rashid Ali to open the Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na sountrack with Kabhi Kabhi Aditi.

And so I wondered whether Mangeshkar would sing for JTHJ. Mangeshkar doesn't seem like a good fit for either Anushka Sharma or Katrina Kaif. In fact, Mangeshkar singing for Kaif is such a laughably bad idea that even if the movie did everything else right, it would be overshadowed by the mismatched actress/singer pair. Even Sharma, who is admittedly closer to a traditional Yash Raj heroine than Kaif, is too young for Lata Mangeshkar.

I'm not denying that Mangeshkar had a versatile voice during her decades as Bollywood's top singer. But something happened at the end of the 90s and her voice no longer suited the latest crop of actresses. If her voice worked for Preity Zinta in Veer-Zaara it was because that film was a far more classical Bollywood romance. Bollywood heroines are different now; they're more assertive and independent. They're not idealized as filmi goddesses but instead are presented as three dimensional people with flaws and wants and needs.

Compare Lata Mangeshkar singing "Darwaza band karlo" for Juhi Chawla in Darr...


...to Mangeshkar singing "Kaise piya se" for Kareena Kapoor in Bewafaa (which is not a perfect movie and not even a good example of Kapoor's screen persona but I do what I can).


Not a good fit, right?

I'm curious about how the decision to exclude Lata Mangeshkar from Jab Tak Hai Jaan came about. Was it a mutual decision between the filmmaker and the composer? Or did A.R. Rahman have to fight to include lesser known singers Shakthisree Gopalan, Neeti Mohan and Harshdeep Kaur in their respective songs? I should mention that all three sing their tracks excellently, their young voices giving passionate, raw performances. Even a more established singer like Shreya Ghoshal or rising star Shilpa Rao offer something new to their songs. Had the entire soundtrack been sung by one singer (even if that one singer had been Shreya Ghoshal or Alka Yagnik), each song would lose some of its uniqueness.

It should be mentioned that even the male singers are fresh names. Rabbi Shergill and Raghav Mathur are two lesser known singers but they get prominent songs as do more established singers Javed Ali and Mohit Chauhan.  Something would have been lost if each song was sung by Udit Narayan or Sonu Nigam.

While I agree that Lata Mangeshkar and Yash Chopra go together like hot chocolate and marshmallows, I'm glad that she is not featured on the Jab Tak Hai Jaan soundtrack for 2 reasons. 1), it gives young singers a chance to shine; and 2), her voice doesn't fit either actress at all.The Jab Tak Hai Jaan soundtrack is fresh and innovative, heartfelt but experimental. Lata Mangeshkar's pure, more traditional voice would not have meshed well with it.