Lata Mangeshkar was the proverbial voice of the golden era. Her singing career that started to blossom in post-independence India soon became irreplaceable and peerless in Hindi cinema. For the next 60 years, Lata’s voice became the heroine’s voice, (and the character actresses’ and the child artistes’ voice!); providing soul for so many glittering screen presences.

Today people may have forgotten who lip-synched Lata’s songs but they still remember and know them as ‘Lata’s songs’. But there were many brilliant actresses who left behind stirring screen images of those memorable songs. From Madhubala to Madhuri Dixit and beyond, here is a look at some beautiful faces that showcased Lata’s all-conquering vocal presence in Hindi cinema!

Lata’s songs for actresses who mainly dominated the black and white era of 50s and 60s:

1. Madhubala
2. Nargis
3. Meena Kumari
4. Nalini Jaiwant (Nalini Jaywant)
5. Kamini Kaushal
6. Nimmi
7. Geeta Bali
8. Usha Kiran
9. Kalpana Kartik
10. Bina Rai
11. Vyjayanthimala
12. Nutan
13. Waheeda Rehman
14. Shyama
15. Nirupa Roy
16. Chand Usmani

Lata’s songs for actresses who dominated mainly in the 60s and 70s

1. Mala Sinha
2. Sadhna
3. Asha Parekh
4. Nanda
5. Saira Banu
6. Sharmila Tagore
7. Mumtaz
8. Tanuja
9. Sandhya
10. Rajashree
11. Kumkum
12. Anita Guha
13. Ameeta
14. Babita
15. Jayshree Gadkar (Jayashree Gadkar)
16. Shakila
17. Indrani Mukherjee
18. Priya Rajvansh

Lata’s songs for actresses who dominated mainly in the 70s and 80s

1. Hema Malini
2. Rakhi
3. Rekha
4. Jaya Bhaduri
5. Leena Chandawarkar
6. Yogita Bali
7. Zeenat Aman
8. Parveen Babi
9. Neetu Singh
10. Dimple Kapadia
11. Moushumi Chatterjee
12. Reena Roy
13. Rehana Sultan
14. Sulkshana Pandit
15. Tina Munim
16. Padmini Kolhapure
17. Smita Patil
18. Shabana Azmi
19. Poonam Dhillon
20. Vidya Sinha
21. Ranjeeta (Ranjita)
22. Sarika
23. Zareena Wahab
24. Bindiya Goswami

Lata’s songs on major actresses (heroines) who mainly dominated the post-80s scenario

1. Sridevi
2. Jayaprada
3. Rati Agnihotri
4. Vijayata Pandit
5. Meenakshi Sheshadri
6. Amrita Singh
7. Juhi Chawla
8. Madhui Dixit
9. Tabu
10. Rani Mukherji
11. Preity Zinta

Lata’s songs on major character actresses

1. Helen
2. Shubha Khote
3. Shashikala
4. Bindu
5. Aruna Irani
6. Bela Bose
7. Jaishree T (Jayshree T)