Rekha recalls the time Lata Mangeshkar called her ‘Mama’: ‘I prayed to God for a daughter like Lata didi’

On The Great Indian Kapil Show, Rekha recalled an interesting anecdote, revealing her close bond with legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar.

Rekha recently spoke about her bond with Lata Mangeshkar. (Express archive photo)

During her appearance on The Great Indian Kapil Show, Indian cinema icon Rekha delighted the audience with her impeccable impression of the late legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar. Her imitation had the crowd erupting in laughter, prompting them to request her to do it once more. Rekha happily obliged but also chose to share an interesting anecdote, revealing her close bond with the iconic singer.

Rekha recalled, “Once she invited me for her birthday. On the stage at her birthday, I said, ‘Lata didi, I am your biggest fan, and God, if you are listening to me, then in the next birth, give me a daughter like Lata didi.’ She responded to me saying, ‘Why in the next birth? I am your daughter in this birth too.’ She came to me right away and called me, ‘Mama! Mama!’ Since that day, her voice has echoed in my ears.”

The bond between Rekha and Lata Mangeshkar goes beyond just anecdotes and Lata’s voice immortalised many characters that Rekha played on the big screen. Some of these iconic songs include “Tere Bina Jiya Jaye Na”, “Neela Aasman So Gaya”, “Aajkal Paon Zameen Par Nahin Padte”, “Salame Ishq Meri Jaan” and “Dekha Ek Khwaab” among others.

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During the show, Rekha also spoke about Amitabh Bachchan, specifically how his presence motivated her to perfect the dandiya steps for the song “O Sheronwali” in their film Suhaag. When a fan asked how she managed to perform the dandiya so flawlessly despite being a South Indian, Rekha didn’t directly mention Amitabh Bachchan’s name but instead shared her admiration for his larger-than-life personality.

She responded, “Ye sochiye ke jinke saath main Dhandiya khel rahi thi, wo kya shaks hai. Acha nahi khelungi toh kya karungi? Dandiya aati ya na aati ho, saamna aise aadmi-shaqs aa jaata hai toh khud hi har angh angh theerakhne lagta hai. (Think about this, the personality of the person I was performing dandiya with. I obviously had to do a good job. Even I didn’t know how to play dandiya, when he stood in front of me, I would just start dancing).”

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