Was Lata Mangeshkar in love with Bhupen Hazarika? Here's what we know

Bhupen Hazarika's estranged wife Priyamvada Patel Hazarika once told to media that Lata Mangeshkar allegedly had an affair with her husband; read more

Singer Lata Mangeshkar passed away on February 6, leaving behind her timeless songs that will keep her memory alive for generations to come. The singer had touched the lives of several stalwarts from the film industry back then. Today, we found an interview of Priyamvada Patel Hazarika, the ex-wife of music legend Bhupen Hazarika, who gave some shocking details of her husband's relationship with Lata Mangeshkar.

In a shocking disclosure in 2012, Priyamvada Patel Hazarika had allegedly said that Lata Mangeshkar had an affair with Bhupen Hazarika. This was told a local TV channel ahead of Bhupen Hazarika's first death anniversary on November 5. "Lata started a big affair with him," Priyamvada said in an interview aired on Saturday prime time. Also, indicating that Lata was one of the reasons she left the Assamese balladeer.

“It was Lata Mangeshkar who made the first move. I have even overheard their romantic conversation. In fact, I recollect an incident where there were three rooms in our house in Calcutta (Kolkata). Hazarika and Lata  were in one room, and I was in another room and Kalyanji (music composer duo of Kalyanji and Anandji) was in the third room. I was waiting outside the room where Lata and Hazarika were. Kalyanji came up to me and said in Gujarati, ‘Sister, go to your room and sleep. He won’t come out now’. I was never the type to bang on the door. I kept quiet because I was too proud,” said Priyamvada.

"Lata was crazy after him, and he (Hazarika) told me Priyam in India if a musician/singer want to come up, his songs have to be sung by Lata. I asked why you should be in the room with her the whole night, he said ketiyaba koribo laage (sometimes you have to do it)," Priyamvada had said.

Priyamvada said that singer Hemanta Mukherjee had introduced Bhupen to Lata. “Even I was present during their first meeting,” she added. 

In Bhupen Hazarika's autobiography Moi Eti Jajabor, he wrote about a big Mumbai-based singer in his life. He noted how his wife returned low after dropping Lata at Kolkata airport. He wrote: “I asked Priyam what happened, and she said maanuhjone kotha eta koley bhaal nalagil (I didn’t like what she said). What did she say, I asked again. Priyam replied: ‘She told me her love for you is no less than mine as your wife’.”