The famous Bollywood lyricist Sandeep Nath shares his precious memory with Lata Didi

 From Saawariya, "Fashion ka hain ye jalwa" to "sun raha hain na tu " from Ashiqui 2, the lists are inexhaustive, but that one song which was penned down by eminent lyricist Sandeep Nath for the movie 'Page3' has always been close to his heart. The lyrics was loved by his beloved Lata Didi and she agreed to lend her voice for "kitne ajeeb rishtey". Sandeep Nath commemorates Lata Mangeshkar while talking with Bongjournal from Mumbai. 

I still remember how I met Lata Didi for the first time, this was in the year 2004, when it has been three to four years since I came to Mumbai and I had written the songs for many films. One day of my friend Sameer Tandon, called me and asked to come in JW Marriot at Juhu. When I reached there, Madhur Bhandarkar a famous Director was sitting with Sameerji and he introduced me to Madhurji. He said that they were planning to make a film called Page 3. So, he wanted a lyricist who had a little knowledge of journalism because page 3 heroine Konkona Sen Sharma was in the role of a journalist in that film and I suited having a lot of journalism experience before coming to Mumbai. We then had a rough script session as he told the story of the film. 

On one hand I was very happy that I have got a film and on the other hand I was worried about how should I write so that Madhur Bhandarkar would like it and the biggest point for me was that the if the theme song is good then Lata Didi will agree to render her golden voice. I couldn't sleep the whole night and kept thinking a lot about the story of the film which he narrated me. I prepared some lines and called Shamir Tandon and he said if you have written something, then come in the evening, we'll sit together and discuss. Shamir Tandon recorded the song. Then we called Madhurji came in the evening, we discussed the final song based on the draft. He called Lata Didi’s office we got in touch after 2 to 3 days with her manager Mr Deshpande. Her manager said that Lata Didi was singing only rarely then because she chose the songs based on good lyrics only. So that was the biggest challenge for me. 

So Madhur ji put all the responsibility on me to write it in such a way that Lata Didi would like it. I wrote the song and everyone liked it so it was sent to Lata Didi for demo. After 10 days we got a call from Lata Didi's manager and we were thrilled to hear she liked the song and Didi assured to sing the song. Few days after we again received the call that Lata Didi wants to meet us. The next day Madhur Bhandarkar, Shameer Tandon and I went to Lata Didi’s house we were humbled by the warm greetings by none other than Lata Didi in her drawing room, where we touched her feet for blessings. She was Ma Saraswati incarnate, while she was speaking, I felt like her voice smelling of sugar candy.

I still remember we had a meeting with her for 40 to 45 minutes. She was such a sweet person. Made us not only feel at home, but never let me feel that I was a newbie to the industry. She was such a great artist at the pinnacle of her career, having sung more than 30,000 songs and then she having received the highest honor of India, the Bharat Ratna at that time, moreover, she was also a member of Rajya Sabha at that time. yet so down to earth. 

She bought poha and upma for us. we talked and she cracked jokes related to music for an hour.Sometimes she called me Kaviji with love. Lata Didi appreciated my work and said you should have come early in the industry. According to her lyrics nowadays are not at all impressive. She suggested me to take the challenge of penning down good lyrics. Those words of her are forever a blessing for me. 

And then the final day came.  I remember, it was 26 June 2004 Didi recorded the song "kitne ajeeb rishtey" at the age of 75 and another everlasting song was made. While memorising of the day Sandeep Nath said – “on that day we touched her feet. She blessed us and went inside the recording room and the magic was made. Before recording Latadidi asked me "keya soch ke ye gaana likha. Maan me keya chal raha tha?"

She also asked Shameer Tandon about his thought on the music composition. This was an example of a great artist. She wanted her voice to sync with not only the lyrics but also the composition.

On 21st January 2005 the film Page 3 was released.  People liked the film so much that the film won National award. And the song was so famous that it became a landmark for me and Shameer Tandon. We all got so much respect in the industry and the whole credit goes to Lata Didi for whose voice this song a history. When in an interview Lata Didi was asked about her best songs she mentioned the legendary songs and also mentioned " kitne Ajeeb rishte Hain yaha pe". What a proud moment for me, as a lifetime award. 

You just see She lend her voice for Tanuja ji as well as kajol. Again, for Sharmila Tagore as well as her daughter Soha Ali Khan. Among so many eminent singers who came in the industry but no one could ever take her place. That's why she was called "Sur Samraggi". Unki bektitya aisi thi ke ek aam aadmi se lekar Pradhanmantri ke aankhen naam hain. Sare Bharatbarsh se juri huyi thi".

When I suddenly heard about her death I was left in shock.  On the next day of Vasant Panchami, Saraswati puja Lataji left us. Physically she may not be with us but her work, personality, her blessings will always remain with us and will show path to the future forever. 

Interviewed by Ruhi Mali