Kavi Pradeep

Kavi Pradeep (6 February 1915 – 11 December 1998), born Ramchandra Narayanji Dwivedi, was a renowned Indian poet and songwriter who is best known for his patriotic song 'Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo' written as a tribute to the soldiers who had died defending the country during the Sino-Indian War.

His first recognition came for his patriotic lyrics for the film Bandhan (1940). His status as a nationalistic writer got immortalised for writing a daringly patriotic song Door Hato Ae Duniya Walo (Move Away O Outsiders) in India's first golden jubilee hit Kismet (1943) because he was forced to go underground to avoid arrest immediately after the film's release that invited the ire of British government.

In a career span of five decades, Kavi Pradeep wrote about 1,700 songs and nationalistic poems including the lyrics for some 72 films, including hits like Chal Chal Re Naujawan in film Bandhan (1940) and Aao Bachcho Tumhein Dikhayen and De Dee Hame Azaadi Bina Khadag Bina Dhaal in film Jagriti (1954) In 1958, HMV, released an album of 13 songs with his lyrics. He was made the Rashtrakavi, (Poet Laureate), and came to be known as, Kavi Pradeep

Lata Mangeshkar

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Lata Mangeshkar ( pronunciation ) (born 28 September 1929) is an Indian playback singer, and occasional music-composer. She is one of the best-known and most respected playback singers in India. Mangeshkar's career started in 1942 and has spanned over seven decades. She has recorded songs for over a thousand Hindi films and has sung songs in over thirty-six regional Indian languages and foreign languages, though primarily in Marathi and Hindi. She is the elder sister of singers Asha Bhosle, Hridaynath Mangeshkar, Usha Mangeshkar and Meena Mangeshkar. She is the second vocalist, after M. S. Subbulakshmi, to have ever been awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour. India's highest award in cinema the Dadasaheb Phalke Award was bestowed her in 1989 by the Government of India.

Asha Bhosle

Asha Bhosle (born 8 September 1933), commonly referred to as Ashaji, is an Indian singer. She is best known as a playback singer in Hindi cinema, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle's career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback singing for over a thousand Bollywood movies. In addition, she has recorded several private albums and participated in numerous solo concerts in India and abroad. Bhosle is the sister of playback singer Lata Mangeshkar.

Renowned for her voice range and often credited for her versatility, Bhosle's work includes film music, pop, ghazals, bhajans, traditional Indian classical music, folk songs, qawwalis, and Rabindra Sangeets. Apart from Hindi, she has sung in over 20 Indian and foreign languages. In 2006, Asha Bhosle stated that she had sung over 12,000 songs, a figure repeated by several other sources. In 2011, she was officially acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most recorded artist in music history. The Government of India honoured her with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2008. In 2013, she made her debut as an actress in the film Mai, and received critical acclaim for her performance.

Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo

"Aye Mere Watan Ke Logo" (ऐ मेरे वतन के लोगों; "O! the people of my country!") is a Hindi patriotic song written by Kavi Pradeep, composed by C. Ramchandra, and sung by Lata Mangeshkar commemorating Indian soldiers who died during the Sino-Indian War. Kavi Pradeep was reportedly moved to compose the song by accounts of casualties of the war.

The song was famously performed live on January 27, 1963, by Lata Mangeshkar at the National Stadium in the presence of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in New Delhi, on account of Republic Day (26 January) 1963, which was just two months after the end of the war. A copy of the soundtrack spool was also later gifted to Nehru on the occasion. The song is said to have moved Nehru to tears.

"Those who don't feel inspired by 'Aye mere watan ke logo' don't deserve to be called a Hindustani", said Nehru, who was visibly moved by the song. The song received rave appreciation from across the country.

In 2013, Lata Mangeshkar told a TV channel that initially she had declined to sing the song as she had not enough time to rehearse it. "It was Pradeepji, (Kavi Pradeep) the poet, who wrote the immortal lyrics, who came to me and asked me to sing the song. I declined, because there was no time to rehearse. You see, at that time I was working round-the-clock. To give special attention to one song seemed impossible. But Pradeepji insisted," Lata said, admitting that she was very nervous before the performance. Kavi Pradeep, the man who penned lyrics of the song, couldn't witness the event. "My regret is that Pradeepji had not been called for the Republic Day function where I sang the song. If he was there, he would have seen with his own eyes what impact 'Ae mere watan ke logo' had," Lata told.