Gajendra Singh: When Lata Didi left us, we wanted to create something to archive her immortal contribution

Picture Courtesy: PR

Gajendra Singh of Saibaba Studios conceptualised and curated an eight-episode series in remembrance of the legacy left behind by the Nightingale of India, Lata Mangeshkar. The show, which aired on Star Plus every Sunday, had all the top singers from the industry perform on Lata Didi's songs celebrating her voice. Sonu Nigam hosted the show, which saw Asha Bhosle, Usha Mangeshkar, Hridaynath Mangeshkar from the family, gracing the show with their presence & sharing anecdotes from Lata didi's life. Nam Reh Jayega is also streaming on HotStar and has garnered stellar viewership on the platform. The social media posts around the show have also received overwhelming response.

On how the show came by, Gajendra Singh of Sai Baba Studios shared, "It was our dream that we should bring Lata ji on 'The Voice of India' and that dream came true in 2008 when she did grace our show. From then onwards we had a good relation with her. With the love, respect and admiration we have for her we wanted to do something on Lata Ji and when didi left us, we wanted to create something to archive her immortal contribution to the Indian music industry for generations to come. Not just her songs, her life, work ethics and struggle. Something like an audio visual chronicle of her very essence. So, I spoke with Star Plus and we designed the show 'Naam Reh Jayegaa'. We had tremendous support from all the artists who willingly came on board. Sonu, Shaan, Alka, Shanu all were like It's for Lata Ji so yes, we'll do it. Everyone said yes even with their busy schedules they made time for Naam Reh Jayega. Even Arijit, who is almost known to be a reclusive person was the first person to come onboard and in one go. It is an immense good fortune for me to get this opportunity and such unflinching support from everyone".

The show was shot 7 days at Film City which culminated into 8 episodes but the preparatory work and background research took about two months of day and night hard work.

Talking about his favourite part of the show, Gajendra Singh said, "My favourite part of the show is that, through this show I got to know a lot about Lata ji. The way she struggled in her life, the way she believed in giving and not expecting anything in return that's how we should live, also the way she worked with different music directors with varying musical sensibilities, her voice made every character come alive on screen. All her songs were superhit be it Bengali, Hindi or Marathi. True to the spirit of the title of our show she is immortal through her work".

The musical talent featured on the show include Sonu Nigam, Arijit Singh, Shankar Mahadevan, Nitin Mukesh, Neeti Mohan, Alka Yagnik, Sadhana Sargam, Udit Narayan, Shaan, Kumar Sanu, Amit Kumar, Jatin Pandit, Javed Ali, Aishwarya Majumdar, Sneha Pant, Pyarelal Ji, Palak Muchhal.

Also Read: World Music Day: Ayushmann Khurrana pays tribute to Lata Mangeshkar and Sidhu Moosewala