Legendary playback singer Asha Bhosle passed away at the age of 92, leaving her fans in great shock and despair. With a singing career spanning around more than 80 years, she with her elder sister and legendary Lata Mangeshkar, were the leading female playback singers for almost 3 decades in Bollywood. Born in the family of a famous classical vocalist, Pt. Deenanath Mangeshkar was the younger sibling of Lata Mangeshkar. She was the second-born child and is survived by her grandchildren, who are in the music industry and her youngest son, Anand Bhosle. Her other siblings are sisters Usha Mangeshkar and Meena Khadikar, and a younger brother, music composer Hridaynath Mangeshkar.

Termed as the “most recorded artist in the world” by Guinness World Records, Asha Bhosle is considered a major legendary playback singer of the Hindi film industry. She was awarded India’s second-highest civilian award, “Padma Vibhushan”,  Dada Saheb Phalke Lifetime Achievement Award, 2 National Awards, and 7 Filmfare Awards.  Besides this, she was also conferred an honorary doctorate by many national and international universities. 

The Life That Turned Into Legend

Born on September 8, 1933, at Sangli, Maharashtra, Asha Bhosle was the second child of the theatre actor and singer, Pt. Deenanath Mangeshkar. When she was just nine years old, she lost her father and along with her elder sister, she started singing in small concerts and doing chores to support her family. At the age of 16, she fled and married her manager, Ganpat Rao Bhosle, who was 31 years old at that time. This caused a rift between her and the Mangeshkar family, much dismay to her legendary sister, Lata Mangeshkar. She called this action of Asha Bhosle “impulsive and irresponsible”. There were many years of non-communication between her and her family.

She got separated in 1960 after years of ill treatment and domestic violence. However, she kept her singing career going on to support herself and her kids. Many people also speculate her being in a romantic relationship with music director O.P Nayyar. In the year 1980, she married legendary music director Rahul Dev Burman, known as “Pancham Da”. She has 3 children from her first marriage. Her only daughter, Varsha, who was a columnist at Reddif and Sunday Observer, committed suicide in 2015. Her eldest son, Hemant Bhosle, who worked briefly as a music director, died of cancer in 2012. She is survived by her youngest child, Anand Bhosle and granddaughter Zanai, who is a kathak dancer and a playback singer.

Other than singing and music, she was very fond of cricket, travelling and cooking. In an interview with The Times of India, she once mentioned that if not a playback singer, she would definitely have been a chef. She also owns a chain of fine restaurants with the name Asha’s, and has hosted many celebrities and top personalities.

Career That Created A Niche 

Started her career early with her sister, legendary Lata Mangeshkar; many of her early songs were from low-budget movies. It was not until the 1952 movie Sangdil that she gained recognition. However, her major break came under the tutelage of music director O. P. Nayyar in the movie Chhamm Chhamma Chhamm in the year 1953, which turned out to be her breakthrough. Initially, she was rejected by many music directors and composers for her voice being different and not “melodious enough”. However, over the period, she created her own niche through her unique style of singing. She paired well with many leading singers of her time, including Md. Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, Manna Dey to present era singers like Sonu Nigam, Udit Narayan, Kumar Sanu, Adnan Sami, and Arijit Singh. 

Besides singers, she also collaborated with other celebrities like Australian cricketer Brett Lee, Indian pop music composer Leslie Lewis, and  Maihar Gharana Maestro Ustad Ali Akbar Khan,n for which she was also nominated for a Grammy. 

Other than this, she launched an album with Pakistani artist and now Indian, Adnan Sami. Her music video of “Kabhi to nazar Milao” starring model Salil Akola and Aditi Govitrikar was a massive hit. 

She also launched a music album titled “Asha and Friends” in collaboration with Gulzar, which received mixed to positive reviews. She has sung in various genres, including Classical, Semi Classical, Devotional, Indi Pop, Gazals, Qawwali, disco in around all major indian languages. 

At the age of 79, she also acted in a Hindi movie Mai where she played the role of a mother suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. She has also worked with many foreign artists and bands,s including Boy George, British band Cornershop, SarahBrightmann, Kronos Quartet, and The Black Eyed Peas. She also collaborated with Pakistani artist Jawad Ahmed for a chartbuster album. Her last collaboration was this year with a British virtual band, Gorillas.  

In the year 2011, she was awarded by the Guinness World Records for being the “Most recorded artist in Studio”, followed by a lifetime achievement award.   

Sibling Rivalry And The Last Mughal 

With an illustrious career spanning around 8 decades, she was often compared with her elder sibling, Lata Mangeshkar. Many of the music directors like O.P Nayyar, Lakshmikant Pyarelal, Jatin Lalit, Nadeem Shravan, Kalyan – Anand, due to their busy schedule and high fees of Lata Ji, preferred Asha Bhosle for their compositions. Also, her unique singing style was the major reason she was preferred to sing rock and roll, disco and pop songs, which was her trademark style. 

Also Read: Legendary Singer Asha Bhosle Dies At 92 After Illness In Mumbai

She was often alleged to prevent other singers from emerging and getting songs to avoid competition, which she always refuted. During her last public performance at Dubai Coca Cola Arena at the age of 90, she claimed that she is the Last Mughal of the Bollywood music industry, in regard to her long career and being a leading female playback singer for so long. 

Media Bird pays its humble tribute to Asha Ji.