Hema Malini expresses interest in a Bollywood version of Mamma Mia, performing to Lata Mangeshkar’s songs, inspired by Meryl Streep’s rendition of ABBA tunes in the musical movie.
B’Day Girl Meryl Streep Did Movie On ABBA’s Songs, Why Can’t Hema Malini Do Film On Lata Mangeshkar’s Songs? She Answers
Meryl Streep, who turns a year younger today, is to cinema what the Taj Mahal is to Agra. Or what Lata Mangeshkar is to music? Mama Mia, could we go again? If Meryl can sing the magical tunes of the Swedish phenomenon ABBA in the musical movie Mama Mia, why can’t Hema Malini do a film based on the immortal melodies of Lataji?
The plot in Mama Mia dithers delectably between utopia and fantasia, careening captivatingly towards the Broadway-styled musicals where the actors (expert singers or not) express moments of heightened feelings through the songs. The melodic masterpieces of ABBA are performed on a Croatian island where time comes to a standstill as a truckload of characters belonging to two different time zones come together in the most celebratory ode to effervescence I’ve seen on screen. This is The Sound Of Music with the cuteness quotient augmented manifold.
When we suggested that Hemaji do a desi Mama Mia with her performing to the songs of Lataji, she was game. “Why not? It’s a lovely idea. I always said that Lataji made me look far more beautiful on screen than I actually was. Her voice is celestial, adbhut; there are no words for it. I would love to do a film based on Lataji’s songs, just like Meryl Streep did in Mama Mia.
