Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The demise of legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar has deeply upset city artist Raj Saini. A great fan of Lata ji, Saini had made 35 paintings depicting his idol’s life-journey. But the veteran artist could not see his works. “They are now my tribute to her,” he says.
The paintings depict Lata as a child, a young singer, a mature artist and as a graceful old lady. “I have painted Lata in different moods and in different phases of her life - from her childhood up to the age of 90, ” he says. In some, the veteran artist is shown singing and in one, playing a sitar. All the works are oil-on-canvas. According to Saini, he is the only artist in the country to have done a series of paintings on Lata.
It took him two years to make all the paintings. The paintings were displayed at the art gallery of Swaraj Bhavan in 2016 and before that, at a programme organised by the RK Films at Ravindra Bhawan.
Saini says that he is a music lover and a great fan of Lata. “After Bharat Ratna was conferred on her, I realised that she was an artist beyond compare and I decided to make a series of paintings on her,” he says.
Saini wanted to exhibit the paintings at an art gallery in Mumbai and was keen that Lata ji should see his works. He was trying for that for the past three years but it could not become possible due to Lata Mangeshkar’s illness and then the Covid-19 pandemic.
Saini says that he has moved all the paintings to Mumbai. In 2019 he went to Mumbai on Lata’s birthday to request her to inaugurate an exhibition of the paintings. However, he could not meet her as she was suddenly taken ill. Then came the Covid-19 pandemic and he could neither meet Lata nor hold the exhibition.
Now that Lata is no more, Saini says, he will be requesting her family members to accept the paintings and display them wherever they deem fit. “I am in touch with her brother,” he says.
“It is a sad day for India. I am deeply grieved, especially since I could never meet her. Such talents are not born everyday,” says Saini adding that “Lata ji never visited Bhopal.”
MP gives Lata Mangeshkar Samman
The Madhya Pradesh Government had instituted a Lata Mangeshkar Samman in 1984. The award is being presented to a singer and musician alternatively. The award for 2019 has been conferred on Shailendra Singh, Mumbai and for 2020, on musicians Anand-Milind. The award ceremony, which could not be held due to the pandemic, will not be organised in October.
