Lata Mangeshkar could never forget the day Sachin Tendulkar called her ‘aai’, was fond of granddaughter Shraddha Kapoor

Lata Mangeshkar remained unmarried throughout her life but her family of fans and friends was endless. Shraddha Kapoor and family were very close to Lata Mangeshkar and her family and would occasionally unite on birthdays and special occasions. Not many know that Shraddha’s late maternal grandfather, singer Pandit Pandharinath Kolhapure, was Lata Mangeshkar’s cousin. 

On her birthday last year, Shraddha had shared a picture from their fam jam. The actor called her “aaji” and was seen sitting on the floor while leaning on Lata’s knee as they posed for the camera with Usha Mangeshkar, Shraddha’s mother Shivangi Kapoor and actor Padmini Kolhapure.

Several years ago, Shraddha had also shared a rare picture from yet another get-together in 2017. “Catching up with my grand aajis after so long,” she had written along with the picture.  

Music maestro AR Rahman also held Lata Mangeshkar in high regard. The two had worked together despite their age gap, including Lata singing the Hindi-Malayalam fusion song Jiya Jale, which was composed by AR Rahman for Mani Ratnamji’s Dil Se. 

Lata was also very fond of master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, who used to call him “aai”. “Sachin treats me like his mother and I always pray for his like a mother. I can never forget the day when he called me ‘aai’ (mother) for the first time. I had never imagined that. It was pleasant surprise for me and I feel blessed to have a son like him.”

Also read: Lata Mangeshkar dies: Akshay Kumar says ‘how can one forget such a voice’, Madhur Bhandarkar calls her a mother figure

She wanted him to be conferred with the Bharat Ratna, just like her. “For me, he is the real Bharat Ratna for years. Whatever he has done for the country, very few people can do. He deserves this honour. He has made all of us feel proud,” she had said 12 years ago, before Sachin finally received the award.

Filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar considered Lata a mother figure and called her demise a personal loss. He would visit her occasionally and shared several pictures with her and wrote on Twitter, “she has been a mother figure to me over the years, use to call her every fortnight and have conversations. It’s a personal loss for me. Her presence will be immensely missed in my life. Love you Didi.”