Lata Mangeshkar in her younger days.
Highlights
- BAFTA Awards 2022 was held last night
- She was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna
- Dilip Kumar was honoured on the BAFTA website
The 'In memoriam' segment of the BAFTA awards 2022, held last night, featured a very special desi moment - legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar was remembered in the montage that also included Hollywood icon Sidney Poitier. Lata Mangeshkar died on February 6 at the age of 92. She was the first Indian artist to perform at the Royal Albert hall in London, the BAFTA tribute said. "Her film credits list is vast, but notable songs featured in Anamika (1973), Aasha (1980), Dil Se (1998) and Rang De Basanti (2006). In 2001, she was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna," said the 'In memoriam' montage.
Lata Mangeshkar died in February after spending many weeks in hospital. She was taken to Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital in early January after testing positive for COVID. The singer was admitted in the Intensive Care Unit or ICU where she was treated for both COVID and pneumonia. After her death, Lata Mangeshkar was cremated with state honours.
Indian Twitter was moved by BAFTA's inclusion of Lata Mangeshkar. Author Aseem Chhabra tweeted a screenshot from the tribute montage:
"Her loss is irreplaceable," tweeted a fan.
Dilip Kumar, who died in July 2021, was honoured on the BAFTA website.
Not everyone on Twitter was as thrilled, however. While the BAFTAs recognised Lata Mangeshkar in their ceremony, they omitted beloved comedienne Betty White who died on December 31 at the age of 99. Unsurprisingly, Twitter was outraged.
In a lame response, the BAFTAs tweeted back to one viewer that Betty White, like Dilip Kumar, featured in their online records and that they would "consider" the Golden Girls star for the TV awards broadcast.
The Power Of The Dog was the big winner at the BAFTA awards, winning Best Film and Best Director for Jane Campion. Oscar favourite Will Smith won Best Actor for his performance in King Richard. West Side Story star Ariana DeBose continued her clean sweep of awards season by winning Best Supporting Actress.