Asha Bhosle (English: Asha Bhosle, born: 8 September, 1933) is a famous playback singer and younger sister of Lata Mangeshkar and daughter of Deenanath Mangeshkar. Asha ji has sung about 16 thousand songs in film and non-film world and her voice has fans all over the world. She has sung more than ten thousand songs in more than 800 films. The name of the great Indian singer Asha Bhosle has been included in the top 20 music personalities in the world. Asha Bhosle’s name comes in this list of top music personalities of the last 50 years prepared by CNN. Asha achieved heights in the six decades of her career with the diversity of singing. Asha ji started playback singing under the patronage of elder sister Lata Mangeshkar. Asha ji gained popularity in 1957 with the song ‘Maang ke sath Tumhara’ from the film ‘Naya Daur’ starring Dilip Kumar and Vyjayanthimala.[1]
Asha Bhosle was born on 8 September 1933 in Sangli, Maharashtra. Asha Bhosle’s name is one of the most famous people in the world. Asha Bhosle was born in a family associated with music. Asha Bhosle’s father Dinanath Mangeshkar was a famous singer and hero. He taught classical music to Asha ji at a very young age. Asha ji’s father died when she was only 9 years old. After the death of her father, Asha Bhosle ji’s family moved from Pune to Kolhapur and then to Bombay.
To support the family, Asha and her elder sister Lata Mangeshkar started singing and acting in films. Asha ji’s sisters Lata Mangeshkar and Usha Mangeshkar are singers. Asha Bhosle ji’s other two siblings, sister Meena Mangeshkar and brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar are music directors. Asha ji wears white shiny saree with border and pearl necklace around her neck.
Bollywood’s brightest star Asha Bhosle is the queen of playback singing. Asha ji has sung more than 12000 songs. In 1943, Asha Bhosle ji sang in her first film (Marathi) ‘Majha Baal’. This song ‘Chala Chala Nav Baala…’ was composed by Datta Dawajekar. In 1948, she sang the song ‘Sawan Aaya…’ from the English film ‘Chunriya’ for Hansraj Bahl. Asha ji sang songs as a famous singer of South Asia. Her songs include film music, pop, ghazal, bhajan, Indian classical music, regional songs, qawwali, Rabindra Sangeet and Nazrul songs. She sang songs in more than 14 languages such as Marathi, Assamese, English, Urdu, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, Tamil, English, Russian, Jaich, Nepali, Malay and Malayalam etc.
At the age of 16, Asha Bhonsle eloped with her 31-year-old lover ‘Ganpat Rao Bhonsle’ (1916-1966) and married him against the wishes of her family. Ganpat Rao was Lata ji’s personal secretary. This marriage was unsuccessful. This marriage ended in tragedy due to the bad behavior of her husband and his brothers. After divorce in 1960, Asha ji returned to her mother’s house with two children and a third unborn child (Anand). In 1980, Asha ji married ‘Rahul Dev Burman’ (Pancham). Asha ji successfully maintained this marriage till Rahul Dev Burman’s last breath.
Asha’s house is located in Prabhukunj Apartment in Peddar Road area, South Mumbai. Asha Bhosle has three children. She also has five grandchildren. Her eldest son is Hemant Bhosle. Hemant spent most of his time as a pilot. Asha’s daughter is Varsha who is younger than Hemant. Varsha has written columns for ‘The Sunday Observer’ and ‘Rediff’. Asha’s youngest son is Anand Bhosle. Anand studied business and film direction. Anand Bhosle is currently looking after Asha’s career. Hemant Bhosle’s eldest son Chaitanya (Chintu) is associated with world music as a successful member of a “boy band”. Anika Bhosle (Hemant Bhosle’s daughter) is working as a successful photographer.
There was a time when it was the era of famous singers like Geeta Dutt, Shamshad Begum and Lata Mangeshkar. They dominated everywhere. Asha ji wanted to sing but she was not even given a chance to sing. Asha ji could sing only for second grade films. In the 1950s, compared to other Bollywood singers, Asha ji sang many songs for low budget ‘B’ and ‘C’ grade films. The music composers of her songs were A.R. Qureshi (Allah Rakha Khan), Sajjad Hussain and Ghulam Mohammad. Which were quite unsuccessful. In 1952, the film ‘Sangdil’ starring Dilip Kumar, whose music composer was Sajjad Hussain, brought her fame. As a result, Bimal Roy gave Asha ji a chance for his film ‘Parineeta’ (1953). Raj Kapoor signed her with Mohammad Rafi for the song ‘Nanhe Munne Bacche…’ in the film ‘Boot Polish’ (1954), which brought Asha ji a lot of fame. O.P. Nayyar gave Asha ji a great opportunity to sing songs for ‘C.I.D.’ (1956). Thus, Asha ji got her first success from B.R. Chopra in the 1957 film ‘Naya Daur’ with Nayyar sahab as the music director. This partnership contributed significantly in bringing many famous songs to the masses. Then music directors like Sachin Dev Burman and Ravi also gave Asha ji a chance. In 1966, Asha ji gained a lot of fame with R.D. Burman in composer R.D. Burman’s most successful film ‘Teesri Manzil’. Between 1960 and 1970, she became the voice of the famous dancer Helen. It is said that whenever Asha ji used to sing, Helen used to be present during the recording so that she could understand the song well and dance to that song well.
The partnership of music director O.P. Nayyar with Asha Bhonsle gave her a special identity. Many people assumed that their relationship was a love affair. Nayyar met Asha for the first time in 1952 during the music recording of a song ‘Chham Chhama Chham…’. He called Asha for the first time in the film ‘Mangu’ (1954). Then he gave a big opportunity to Asha in the film C.I.D. (1956). Thus, the success of Naya Daur (1957) increased the fame of both of them. After 1959, Asha remained associated with Nayyar emotionally and professionally. Memorable films of O.P. Nayyar and Asha Bhonsle include the song ‘Aaiye Meharbaan…’ filmed on Madhubala (Howrah Bridge-1958) and the song ‘Yeh Hai Reshmi Zulfon Ka Andhera…’ filmed on Mumtaz (Mere Sanam-1965), etc. Nayyar recorded many hit songs with Asha ji such as- Naya Daur (1957), Tumsa Nahin Dekha (1957), Howrah Bridge (1958), Ek Musafir Ek Haseena (1962), Kashmir Ki Kali (1964) etc. Some famous songs of their partnership are- Aao Huzoor Tumko…(Kismat), Jaiye Aap Kahan Jayenge…(Mere Sanam) etc. O.P.Nayyar’s duet songs with Mohammed Rafi and Asha ji became quite famous. Some of the major duet songs sung by them are ‘Ude Jab Jab Zulfen Teri…(Naya Daur), Mai Pyar Ka Raahi Hoon…(Ek Musafir Ek Haseena), Deewana Hua Badal…, Ishaaron Ishaaron Mein…(Kashmir Ki Kali) etc. On 5 August 1972, both of them separated. It is not clear what were the reasons for their separation.
Famous songs of Asha ji and Helen include ‘Piya tu ab to aaja…’ (Karva), ‘O haseena zulfon waali…’ (Teesri Manzil) and ‘Yeh mera dil…’ (Don). In 1981, Asha ji gave a befitting reply to the critics by singing traditional ghazals in Umrao Jaan and Ijaazat (1987) and proved her singing talent. During these days, she received the National Film Award for ‘Best Female Playback Singer’ for both the above mentioned films. Asha ji continued singing till 1990. She once again started her second innings with the 1995 hit film ‘Rangeela’. In 2005, 72-year-old Asha ji sang for the Tamil film ‘Chandrakhshi’ and the pop song ‘Lucky Lips…’ starring Salman Khan, which became a famous chart buster. October 2004, ‘The Very Best of Asha Bhosle’, an album of songs sung by ‘The Queen of Bollywood’ Asha ji (1966-2003) was released.
