Hridaynath Mangeshkar is a composer and singer hailing from Maharashtra. Born on October 26, 1937, he is better known as Balasaheb in the industry and is the younger brother of two music icons of India: Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhonsle. He has been honoured with the National award for Best Direction and also seven Maharashtra State Awards.
As the only son of Deenanath Mangeshkar, he has two more sisters, namely, Usha Mangeshkar and Meena Khadikar. His wife Bharati Malvankar Mangeshkar is the daughter of a famous Marathi comedian Damuanna Malvankar. They have three children, Aadinath and Vaijnath, and a daughter called Radha.
As a newbie in the industry, he began his music career with the Marathi film Akash Ganga in 1955. Since then he has composed songs for many Marathi films including “Sansar” (1980), “Jait Re Jait” (1977), “Umbartha” (1982) and “Nivdung” (1989). He is known for his fondness for setting poems to tune. An example would be Veer Savarkar’s poem “Saagara Pran Talamalala”. Similarly, Marathi poet Suresh Bhat’s poems gained popularity after they were set to tune by Hridaynath and sung by Lata and Asha. Another one of his fortes has been folk songs. His collection Koli Geets has captured the essence of the lives of Konkan fisher folk. He is most renowned for his compositions in the Marathi movie, “Nivdung”. A few of his contributions to the Hindi film industry include “Lekin” (1991), “Maya Memsaab” (1993) , “Lal Salaam” (2002) , Yash Chopra’s “Mashaal” (1984), “Dhanwaan” (1981) and Chaani (1977). Some of his popular Hindi songs include “Kesariya Balma”, “Ja Ja Re” (“Lekin”), “Mitwa” (“Lal Saalam”), “Mujhe Tum Yaad Rakhna” and “Om Namah Shivaye” (“Mashaal”).
He has composed two albums of poet-saint Meerabai’s poems and songs called “Chala Vahi Des” and Meera Bhajans. His body of work also includes Meera Soor Kabeera, a collection of works by Meerabai, Kabir and Surdas. He has also produced an album of Mirza Ghalib’s ghazals titled Ghalib, sung by his sister Lata Mangeshkar. He places his sister Lata even above his guru Ustad Amir Khan.
He won the National award for Best Music in the year 1991 for the film “Lekin” featuring songs by Gulzar. He has also received the Lata Mangeshkar Award instituted by the State of Madhya Pradesh in the year 2006-07. Also in his kitty are seven Maharashtra State Awards for Best Vocalist and Music Director/Composer. Pandit Bhimsen Joshi and Pandit Jasraj have awarded him the title of ‘Pandit’ on behalf of the people of Maharashtra. The Shankaracharya has awarded him the title Bhaav Gandharva. In the year 2009 he was honoured by the Government of India with a Padmashri.
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