"I am so happy to hear that his son has finally come home. I can only imagine the pain that Shah Rukh and his wife Gauri have gone through," Lata Mangeshkar says about Shah Rukh Khan's son Aryan who was arrested during an alleged drug raid on a cruise ship and went home on October 30 after three weeks of jail time.
Lataji shares a special bond with Shah Rukh.
The Khan once said he wished the Nightingale could sing for him.
"I first saw Shah Rukh in a serial called Fauji. It was the era of Doordarshan," Lataji says.
"There was something special about him even back then. Then I saw him in a film called Chamatkar with Urmila Matondkar. Shah Rukh was so innocent and honest in his performance. Later, I saw Deewaana and Baazigar in which he played a negative character. It was quite evident that Shah Rukh could play any kind of role."
Lataji praises Shah Rukh's dancing.
"I remember him saying somewhere that he had no sense of rhythm and dance. But when I saw him in that song Ruk Ja O Dil Deewane in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, ussmein itna sahi acting kiya tha unhone. Then I saw him dancing to Chaiyya Chaiyya in Dil Se.. He moved like a dream."
About his desire to have her sing for him, she laughs, "Dilip Kumarsaab, whom Shah Rukh is compared with, also expressed this humbling desire. I wish I could sing for Shah Rukh. His expressions are so correct in the songs."
Some years ago, when the formidable artiste tweeted to wish Shah Rukh Khan a happy birthday, she also downloaded a song from Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge as part of tribute to the Khan's talent.
It was a solo number featuring Shah Rukh only.
"I was bombarded on Twitter with requests for a duet featuring me in the vocals," she says with a laugh. "But it was Shah Rukh's birthday and the song had to feature only him. This birthday, I wish all his troubles to vanish."
