From “Aye mere watan ke loogon” to “Eshwar ya Allah, yeh pukar sun le”, Lata Mangeshkar's songs have charmed every generation and inspired singers worldwide. On her 82nd birthday celebrations on Wednesday, the Andhra Pradesh State Cultural Council (APSCC) conferred the Lata Mangeshkar Music Awards on South Indian playback singers P Susheela, Shankar Mahadevan, P Sunitha and Chitra at a function at the Ravindra Bharati. This was the second edition of the awards for which the singers were selected by Lata Mangeshkar herself.The Lata Mangeshkar Swarna Kankanam awards, as they are called, were given to P Susheela, who completed 60 years as a singer in the Telugu cinema industry, and to P Sunitha for her contribution to the Telugu cinema as a playback singer. The other singers, Shankar Mahadevan and Chitra, were presented with Lata Mangeshkar awards for their contribution in Hindi as well as other languages. All of them were presented with a Veena, citation and Rs 50,000 in cash. Two other singers, Vijayalakshmi and Khan Athar, were honoured for popularising Telugu songs on stage. Principal secretary, Endowments, KV Ramanchari and Rao Bala Saraswati (the first-ever female Tollywood singer who sang her first song in 1934) gave away the awards to the winners.All the singers rendered some of their popular numbers and some of Lata’s songs. Khan Athar started off with “Ehsaan tera ho” after which P Sunitha sang the very popular “Piya bina” and “Raine beete jaaye”, which left the audience spellbound. Shankar Mahadevan rendered one of his famous numbers, “Maa” from Taare Zameen Par and dedicated it to Lata and Rao Bala Saraswati. Chitra broke down on stage during the song as her daughter, Nandana, had died recently after drowning in a swimming pool at Emirate Hills in Dubai. She dedicated the award to her daughter. Expressing her happiness on receiving the award, Sunitha said, “I am so surprised and very honoured for having received this award. I am a great fan of Lataji and I am inspired by her songs.” Asked which was her favourite Lata Mageshkar song, she replied, “If you ask me, I can go on and on and the list will never end. I love all of her songs like “Bahoon mein chale aao”, “Piya Bina.” Agreeing with Sunitha was Khan Athar, who said, “There cannot be any song of her’s which I have not cherished. When I first started singing, I sang “Meri Zindagi ke chiraag” from Jaal, which is very close to my heart.” He further added, “I am very grateful for receiving this award.” Last year, former chief minister Rosaiah presented singer Sree Ramachandra with the Lata Mangeshkar Music Award for his performance in the reality show Indian Idol. However, this time, KV Ramanachari along with Ramana Murthy, chairman, APSCC presided over the event. Singers P Susheela and Vijayalakshmi were not present at the show.
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