The singer, who recently turned 90, made foray into the photo-and-video sharing platform on Monday night.
She announced the news of her debut on Twitter and shared the link to her Instagram profile.
“Namaskar. Aaj pehli baar aap sabse Instagram pe jud rahi hun. (Namaskar. Today I have joined Instagram to connect with you all)” the legendary singer wrote, sharing her photo holding the book ‘Didi Aur Main’ based on her life, penned by her sister Meena Khadikar.
The memoir was released on September 29, a day after the iconic singer’s birthday.
The singer also posted another picture posing with her two sisters—Meena and Usha Mangeshkar, holding the book.
“Namaskar! Kal meri choti behen Meena Khadikar ne mujhe uske dwara mujhpar likhi hui hindi kitab Didi Aur Main ki peheli copy bhent ki. (Yesterday my younger sister Meena Khadikar gifted me the first copy of the book that she wrote on me)” the singer captioned the second photo.
Her bio reads, “Official Instagram Account of Lata Mangeshkar” but the profile is yet to be verified.
Posting only 5 photos, the legend has amassed over 65.2k followers already.
Lata Mangeshkar, recently featured in headlines after she said,”Agar mere naam aur kaam se kissiko bhala hota hai toh main apne-aap ko khush-kismat samajhti hoon,” with respect to a singer named Ranu Mondal, who became an Internet sensation almost overnight after a video of her singing Lata Mangeshkar’s song Ek Pyaar Ka Nagma Hai went insanely viral.
Lata Mangeshkar’s talent needs no introduction. Often addressed as the “Nightingale Of India,” Lata Mangeshkar has been the voice behind many actresses across decades. Her soulful voice has been part of Bollywood for over 70 years.
No wonder then, when the New York Times referred to Lata Mangeshkar as “so-called” playback singer in 2016, Twitter had a meltdown of irate users who found the comment demeaning and sought explanation and apology from the publication.
The newspaper was carrying a story on Indian comedian Tanmay Bhat’s controversial Snapchat video, in which he had used the app’s face-swap feature to liberally ridiculed Lata and Sachin Tendulkar. After the video went viral on the social media and other channels, it triggered widespread outrage.
A description of the video in The New York Times report reads:
“In the expletive-laced video, which was created on Snapchat, Mr. Bhat uses that app’s face-swap feature to impersonate Sachin Tendulkar, a hugely popular cricketer who retired in 2013, and Lata Mangeshkar, a so-called playback singer for Bollywood films whose career dates to the 1940s. Playback singers record vocals for song-and-dance numbers, to which actors and actresses lip sync.”
Ellen Barry, South Asia bureau chief for The New York Times, explained in a tweet: “A note on ‘so-called’: Used here for non-Indian readers unfamiliar with the term ‘playback singer’. In no way a commentary.”
Despite the explanation, the ‘so-called playback singer’ phrase didn’t go down too well with some people, who took to Twitter to slam the newspaper as they took it as an insult to the 86-year-old, who started her career in 1943 at the age of 13 and has been regaling music lovers with her mellifluous voice over the decades.
Perhaps, we can get an insight into the legendary singer’s mind through her Instagram posts – on things she feels important to comment. Welcome Didi to the new world of social media!