Lata Mangeshkar Has A Problem With Remixes, Pens An Open Letter To Protest

Lata Mangeshkar has a bone to pick with today’s music directors and recording companies. Through an open letter, she has expressed it quite abashedly that she is against the trend of careless remixes of old songs. She says this with reference to tracks like Ek Do Teen and Laila Main Laila which were recently recreated for Bollywood films.

Lata Mangeshkar started off her open letter by mentioning that she had a long talk with Javed Akhtar on this matter. And it is he who suggested her to voice her opinion, which is what led to her penning a very long Twitter post written in Hindi.

Image Credit: YouTube

She was very specific about her problem moreover. Her letter clearly states that there is nothing wrong with this practice unless the essence of the original song is kept alive. Things go wrong, according to her, when the very structure and words of the original track are changed. This is something she says, is very disheartening to see. She went on to add that presenting a song in its original form is actually a good thing to do, since it will help the newer generations experience their beauty.

She also stressed on the importance of the old songs from the ‘golden era’ of Bollywood music. Referring to artists like Mukesh, Rafi, Kishore, Asha and many more, Lata said that these people along with all the technicians, composers and the lyricists had worked very hard on the music they created. With their songs, she went on further, they brought the nation together in a way.

Ending her letter, Lata Mangeshkar urged record companies to make sure that the yesteryear classics are not used so carelessly by the new music directors in Bollywood. Her argument seems like a pretty respectable one. She has not called for an all-out ban on such remixes. All that she wants to be followed is that the record companies uphold the integrity of the songs they are licensing to be recreated.

Lata herself has been a fan of remix songs in their early days. When her song Main Chali was recreated by Bombay Vikings back in the early 2000s as Woh Chali, she liked it so much that she had apparently invited the band’s lead singer Neeraj Shridhar to sing at her birthday party.

You can read the full text of Lata Mangeshkar’s letter by clicking on the tweet we’ve embedded above.

Read Also: Five Reprised Versions Of Lata Mangeshkar Songs That Will Impress You