Born in the small hamlet of Goar, then in the salute princely state of Maharashtra’s Sangli, into the musical family of Master Deenanath Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle came, she sang and then she conquered. Her rein continues as one of the foremost voices in the Hindi film industry.
Once considered the perennial ‘Number 2’ after Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle at 84 is second to none today.
Known for her evergreen charisma, Asha Tai is known for her famed rivalry with elder sister Lata Mangeshkar, cooking and the men in her life namely O.P Nayyar and RD Burman.
At the age of 16, she eloped with 31-year-old Ganpatrao Bhosle, marrying him against her family’s wishes.
Having sung songs in the industry for nearly seven decades, Asha’s repertoire as a singer is vast. Her list of nearly 12000 songs has earned her an entry into the Guinness Book of World Records.
Asha’s singing has not just forced India to move but groove in equal measure. Bhosle has recorded nearly 12,000 songs in 20 different languages.
Bhosle interestingly entered the Hindi film circuit when elder sister, Lata was at the peak of her career. Shamshad Begum and Geeta Dutt were the other two who were making waves at that time.
If Lata brought a certain godliness to Hindi film music, Asha lent her voice to the Helens, the cabaret girls and vamps of Bollywood. Bhosle’s glass-clear personality and sense of humour was in contrast to Lata’s “stick to the script” dignity.
Later it was RD Burman better known as Pancham who brought a slice of the West into Asha’s persona by making her listen to the likes of the Beatles, Shirley Bassey, John Coltrane, Earth Wind and Fire, Sergio Mendes, Santana, the Rolling Stones, Blood Sweat and Tears, Chick Correa, Osibisa among others.
In the 1970s, Asha and Pancham’s youthful Western songs took Bollywood music by storm . Be it the raunchy “Piya Tu Ab To Aaja”, the rebellious “Dum Maro Dum”, the sexy “Duniya Mein” or the romantic “Chura Liyaa Hai Tumne” Asha forced people to swing to her beats and tunes.
Superhits like Aaja aaja (Teesri Manzil) and the classical Piya baawari (Khubsoorat) too were quite a rage in that era.
Bhosle’s work included film music, pop, ghazals, bhajans, traditional Indian classical music, folk songs, qawwalis, and Rabindra Sangeets.
The Government of India honoured her with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2008.
Her big break was under film director Bimal Roy who gave her a chance to sing in Parineeta (1953). Raj Kapoor signed her to sing “Nanhe Munne Bachche” with Mohammed Rafi in Boot Polish (1954).
Asha who gave a string of hits with O. P. Nayyar and RD Burman, first met OP Nayyar in 1952, at the music recording of Chham Chhama Chham. After Mangu and CID it was success of Naya Daur (1957) that made the duo popular.
Asha recorded her last song for O.P. Nayyar in the movie Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye (1974).
Asha though gives the credit for her first big break to B. R. Chopra, the producer of Naya Daur.
Another music director who recognized Asha’s talent early was Khayyam.
Among the others she associated with professionally was Shankar-Jaikishan, Jaidev, Anu Malik, AR Rahman, Madan Mohan among others.
Changing track to Ghazals won Asha her first National Film Award of her career. A few years later, she won another National Award for the song “Mera Kuchh Saamaan” from Ijaazat (1987).
With changing times Asha too adjusted by singing songs for actresses much younger than her. Bhosle sang for actress Urmila Matondkar in Rangeela and several other young faces.
In the mid-1980s, Asha sang with Boy George (“Bow down mister”) and Stephen Lauscombe.
In 1997, she sang a love song with the boy band Code Red, at the age of 64.
She also recorded the song “The Way you Dream” with Michael Stipe that was used in the English movie, Bulletproof Monk.
In 1997, the British band Cornershop paid tribute to Asha with their song “Brimful of Asha,”
In late 2006, Asha collaborated with Australian test cricket star, Brett Lee. The single, You’re the One for Me, debuted at number 4 on the charts and reached a peak position of number 2.
In an era when sound mixing and studio recording has undergone a seachange, Asha Bhosle and her songs is something that still fascinates young talents.
Comments