Rehman, 84, doesn’t remember their first meeting but said they last met about four-five years ago at the late Dilip Kumar’s house in suburban Mumbai. 

“I invited Lata ji to come to my place and we spent three hours just talking about life, eating and cracking jokes… We would often send each other a lot of things, like I would send her chocolates, kebabs, which were her favourite, and biryani. In return, she would send me beautiful saris… Her voice had magic and behind that magic was a lot of hard work and determination. She would rehearse and rehearse so much,” Rehman recalled.

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