Moving away from her diplomatic stand on personal favourites, The Nightingale for the first time selects her favourite songs. Bedard tere dard ko seene se lagake from the film Padmini , Ae dilruba from the film Rustom Sohrab and Kali laki raat re dil bada sataaye from the film Saiyya composed by Sajjad Hussain.

Quietly, without fanfare, the Nightingale turns 83 on 23 September (2012). Nothing about Lataji is ostentatious. At a time when her peers, colleagues and even juniors have hung up their boots… she continues to rule the roost. Movie chakkar entered into a candid chat with her. Excrpts: <strong>After more than 65 years of singing you continue to be our national treasure. What summits remain for you to conquer? </strong>

At 82, Lata Mangeshkar remains the undisputed queen of all she sur-weighs. And now comes the news that she is all set to record the indomitable lines of a number of Hindi poets, including Harivanshrai Bachchan in her invincible voice. Apparently, the idea came to the Nightingale after surveying the current musical scene.