Having sung over 12,000 songs including film music, pop, ghazals, bhajans, folk songs, qawwalis, Nazrul Geetis, etc... in languages as varied as Hindi, Assamese, Urdu, Telugu, Marathi, Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, Kannada, English, Russian, Czech, Nepali, Malay, Sinhala and Malayalam; it is very difficult to talk in brief of a life that has been so vibrant and a journey that has been this long.
Born in a musical family of Master Deenanath Mangeshkar, in Sangli, Maharashtra, on 8th September, 1933, Asha Bhosle had singing in her blood. After the death of her father, when she was as young as nine years of age, Asha and elder sister Lata Mangeshkar began to sing and act in films to support their family.
Asha Bhosle's life was not devoid of struggle in spite of her being born with a silver spoon. At 16, she eloped with Lata Mangeshkar's personal secretary, Ganpatrao Bhosle but the marriage failed miserably and she had to return to her maternal family. On her return to her family and the singing world, she sung in many B-grade and C-grade movies without much recognition or appreciation. She finally got some recognition when she sung for the Dilip-kumar starrer 'Sangdil' (1952). After this there was no looking back.
She went on to form a successful collaboration with Mohammad Rafi and R. D. Burman resulting into many successful and hit songs. Her association with P. P. Nayyar was also much talked about but they finally parted ways on a bitter note. In the 60s' and 70s', she became the voice for Bollywood dancer Helen and some of their hit songs include "Piya Tu Ab To Aaja" (Caravan), "O Haseena Zulfon Waali" (Teesri Manzil) and "Yeh Mera Dil" (Don).
She wasn't restricted to the cabret-style songs though. In the 80s', she proved her versatility by singing the gazals like Dil Cheez kya hai, In Aankhon Ki masti ke, etc...
It is not just nationally but even internationally, Asha Bhosle has collaborated with many artists. In the mid-1980s, Asha sang with Boy George and Stephen Lauscombe. In 1997, she sang a love song with the boy band Code Red, at the age of 64. In 2003, British opera pop singer Sarah Brightman sampled her song "Dil Cheez Kya Hai" on her album Harem. It was used as the intro for her song "You Take My Breath Away". In 2005, American string quartet Kronos Quartet re-recorded R D Burman compositions like "Chura Liya", "Piya Tu", "Mera Kuchh Saaman" among others and got Asha to sing them. In late 2006, Asha collaborated with Australian test cricket star, Brett Lee.
Asha is a good mimicry artist as well. At a concert at World Trade Center in Dubai on April 22, 2004, she mimicked the song "Kabhi To Nazar Milaao" in the voices of Noor Jehan, Lata Mangeshkar and Ghulam Ali. Asha Bhosle is also a successful restauranteur and runs restaurants in Dubai and Kuwait, called Asha's.
Asha Bhosle has obviously won many awards and accolades. The World Records Academy, an international organization which certifies world records, recognized her as the "Most Recorded Artist" in the world, in September 2009. She was awarded the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2008. She has won as many as seven Filmfare awards out of the 12 in which she was nominated for the Best Female Playback Awards. After 1979, she requested that her name be excluded from all the nominations henceforth.
This music Queen has sung almost all her life, taking us through a beautiful musical journey. May she keep singing for many more years to come and have a long, musical life ahead.
Fridaymoviez wishes Asha Bhosle a Very Happy Birthday.