‘I’m a singer’… when Lata Mangeshkar introduced herself to Ricky Kej

PTI, Aug 13, 2024, 4:36 PM IST

Mumbai: It was 2015, he had just won his first Grammy, and the phone rang. Ricky Kej answered the call to hear a congratulations from what sounded like a 16-year-old introducing herself as Lata.

Who Lata, Kej went on to ask. And the response came, “I am a singer.” It was, of course, Lata Mangeshkar, the music legend through the ages and modest to a fault.

That call, beginning with confusion about identity, is one of Kej’s most cherished memories. It was also the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

“This happened in 2015 after I won my first Grammy award. I landed in Bangalore and got a call from an unknown number in Mumbai. ‘Hello, is this Ricky?’ I said, ‘Yeah’. She said, ‘I wanted to congratulate you on winning your Grammy award’. I’m like, ‘Who is this?’ She’s like, ‘I’m Lata’. I’m like, ‘Who Lata?’ She’s like, ‘I’m a singer’. I said, ‘How do you get my phone number? Who gave you my phone number’?” Recalling every detail of the conversation, Kej told PTI that at this point her manager took the phone from Mangeshkar to clear the confusion.

” ‘Hello Ricky, I’m Mahesh. I’m Lata ji’s manager and this is Lata Mangeshkar’. He gave back the phone to her. I told her, ‘You sound like a 16-year-old’. She started laughing and said, ‘Everyone says the same. I sound very young’. I told her, ‘Next time, don’t say you are Lata, a singer. You are much more than that’,” Kej said.

The Bangalore-based classical musician, who has won three Grammys, said he also learnt during their conversation that Mangeshkar knew his grandfather, Janki Das Mehra, actor, freedom fighter and cyclist.

“We spoke to each other quite often after that… These are just beautiful moments in life that you’re very grateful for when you got to speak to the legend Lata Mangeshkar. I’m extremely fortunate that I had a beautiful relationship with her,” Kej said.

The 43-year-old added that he is personally fond of Bollywood music but has stayed away from composing so far despite several offers.

“After I won the first Grammy award and the second and the third, I’ve been offered a lot of films by Bollywood. But that is something I’m not interested in. If there is a film which is about a social message at its root, I would love to take that up. But I’ve never been offered a film like that. I’m only offered mainstream, big budget Bollywood movies,” he said.

Kej has collaborated with the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) and 14,000 students for a new version of the national anthem ahead of Independence Day. The project set a Guinness World Record for the largest singing lesson, a feat previously achieved by Sweet Adelines International, Nashville, USA with over 6,000 participants.

It also features Indian classical legends Pandit Hari Prasad Chourasia, Rakesh Chourasia, Rahul Sharma, Amaan Ali Bangash, Ayaan Ali Bangash, Jayanti Kumaresh, Mr. & Mrs. Sheik Mehaboob Subhani and Giridhar Udupa.