Priyamvada Patel, the estranged wife of late musician and filmmaker Bhupen Hazarika, made a shocking revelation ahead of the balladeer's first death anniversary about his alleged affair with melody queen Lata Mangeshkar.
In an interview with an Assamese TV channel DY365 on Saturday, Patel revealed that "Mangeshkar started a big affair with him".
The startling revelation enraged the Mangeshkar family as well as filmmaker Kalpana Lajmi who had been with Hazarika for more than three decades. Both Mangeshkar and Lajmi are reportedly seeking legal action against Patel.
During the interview, Patel suggested that Mangeshkar is one of the reasons why she had separated from Hazarika after 13 years of marriage. She said that Mangeshkar used to visit their Tollygunge flat and shared one of the three bedrooms with the late singer during her visits to Kolkata.
"She used to come and they used to be together the whole night in one of the three bedrooms. She was crazy about him. He told me one day, 'Look Priyam, in India, if a musician wants to come up, his songs have to be sung by Lata Mangeshkar'," DNA quoted Patel as saying.
"Later, when I asked him why he should be with a woman in the room the whole night, he said 'ketiaba koribo lage' (sometimes you have to do it). Once, music director duo Kalyanji-Anandji told me in Gujarati, sister you go to sleep he won't come up'," she said.
In his biography "Moi Eti Jajabor" (I am a Nomad), Hazarika made a reference to a woman but did not name her. He also mentioned an incident about how Patel was in tears when she saw the "big artiste" at Kolkata airport."I asked Priyam what happened, and she said she didn't like something which the woman had said. When I insisted, Priyamvada replied, 'She said she loves you more than your parents and I do'," he wrote.
