Tabassum, the veteran film actor, talk show host and YouTuber, who started her career as a child actor in 1947, recalls her long association with Lata Mangeshkar
Tabassum says, “I would like to start by a sher of mine ‘Jo beet gaye hain woh zamane nahi aate, aate hai naye log, purane nahi aate.’ Lata didi was not just one-of-a kind in India but in the world as well. There will never be another Lata Mangeshkar. She was a version of Ma Saraswati. I knew her since I was seven-eight years old. We met when she was recording the superhit song, ‘Chup chup khade ho zaroor koi baat hai`, for the 1949 film Bari Behen. Directed by DD Kashyap, the film starred Suraiya, Rehman and Geeta Bali. I happened to be present at the recording of that song because music director Husnlal Bhagatram was a close friend of my father. I remember Geeta Dutt and Shamshad Begum were also present at the recording and gave Lataji aashirwaad when she touched their feet before singing. I believe it is the blessings of such legends that made her the singer and person that she was.
In the 1952 film `Deedar,` Lataji sang a song picturised on Parikshit Sahni and me. She sang my parts and Shamshad Begum sang for Parikshit. People still remember that song ‘Bachpan Ke Din Bhula Na Dena, Aaj Hanse Kal Rula Na Dena.’
It’s my good fortune that Lataji would also present me with chocolates when we met. Then she would say in jest, “I’m feeding you chocolates, but don’t eat too much, else your teeth would fall.
Once I was hosting ‘Lata Mangeshkar night’ in Kolkata, where I would say a song and she would start singing. I ended up missing one song because of the crowd and chaos at the stadium. If it was someone else, they would ask me to announce the correct song, but she sang the one that I had mistakenly said. Nobody realised that I had made the wrong announcement.”
