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Name
Asha
Bhonsle
Date of Birth
8th September, 1933
Birth Place
Goar Sangli, Maharashtra
Father’s Name
Pandit
Deenanath Mangeshkar
Classical Singer and Theater Actor
Mother’s Name
Smt. Shudhhamati
Sisters
(Three) 1. Lata Mangeshkar
2. Usha Mangeshkar
3. Meena Mangeshkar
Brother
(One)
Hridayanath
Mangeshkar
Spouse
Sh. Rahul Dev Burman
Ex-spouse
Ganpatrao Bhosle
Children
Sons - Anand Bhosle and Hemant Bhosle
Daughter - Varsha
First Hindi Song
Saawan Aaya
Education
Honorary Doctorates from the University of Amravati and University
of Jalgaon in Literature
Favorite
Playback Singers Mohammad Rafi
Best Colour
White
Hobbies
Cooking Asha Bhosle is best known as a
Bollywood
Playback
Singer.
Her career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done
playback singing for over 1100 Bollywood movies. She is the sister of the
equally accomplished
Lata Mangeshkar.
Bhosle is considered one of the most versatile
South Asian
singers - her range of songs includes
film music,
pop,
ghazals,
bhajans,
traditional
Indian Classical Music,
folk songs,
qawwalis,
Rabindra Sangeets
and
Nazrul Geetis.
She has sung in over 14 languages including
Assamese,
Hindi,
Urdu,
Telugu,
Marathi,
Bengali,
Gujarati,
Punjabi,
Tamil,
English,
Russian,
Czech,
Nepali,
Malay and
Malayalam.
Consequently, film director
Bimal Roy gave
her a chance to sing in
Parineeta.
Raj Kapoor
signed her to sing the song Nanhe Munne Bachche with
Mohammed Rafi
in
Boot Polish,
which gained popularity.
O.P. Nayyar
gave Asha Bhosle a big break in
C.I.D.. She
first achieved success in
B.R. Chopra's
Naya Daur,
composed by him.
Asha first met
Rahul Dev Burman Pancham when she was a mother of two and he was in 10th grade having
dropped out to pursue music. Their partnership was first noticed in Teesri
Manzil won popular acclaim. Their collaboration produced numerous hits in
the 1970s and resulted in a marriage. Asha Bhosle used to call R D Burman (Bubs). She married him in 1980. Their partnership lasted until his death.
The team of O.P. Nayyar and Asha
Bhosle is best remembered for their breezy and sometimes
sirenish songs.
Some good examples of their sensuous numbers are Aaiye meherbaan picturized
on
Madhubala (Howrah
Bridge) and Yeh Hai Reshmi Zulfon Ka Andhera picturized on
Mumtaz (Mere
Sanam). They recorded songs for many hit movies like Naya Daur,
Tumsa Nahin Dekha,
Howrah Bridge, Ek Musafir Ek Hasina,
Kashmir Ki Kali,
etc. Some of their most popular songs include Aao huzur tumko (Kismat),
Jaaiye Aap Kahan (Mere Sanam) etc. O.P. Nayyar used the Asha Bhosle -
Mohammad
Rafi duo for his most popular duets. some of these songs include
Ude Jab Jab Zulfein Teri (Naya Daur). Main Pyaar Ka Rahi Hoon (Ek Musafir Ek
Haseena), Deewana Hua Baadal, Ishaaron hi isharon mein (Kashmir Ki Kali)
etc. Asha recorded her last song for O.P. Nayyar in the movie
Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na
Jaye. The solo number Chain se got many awards, but it was not
included in the movie.
Another music director who
recognized Bhosle's talent early was
Khayyam. His
partnership with Asha Bhosle dates back to his first movie Biwi. Khayyam
gave her some good assignments in the 1950s, including Dard and Phir Subah
Hogi. But the team is chiefly remembered for the songs of
Umrao Jaan.
Along with her sister
Lata Mangeshkar,
Asha Bhosle is regarded as an icon of
Marathi music
(Marathi is their mother tongue). She has sung several non-film songs of the
genre commonly referred to as Bhaav Geet, which consist mostly of poems
written by notable poets. A good example is the popular album Rutu Hirawa
("Green Season"), composed by Shreedhar Phadke. Asha's renditions of her
brother
Hridayanath Mangeshkar's
compositions have been very popular with Marathi music lovers. As in Hindi;
her Marathi songs also represent her wide range, from westernized tunes like
Ruperi Walut ("meet me on the silver sands in the coconut groves") to
complex classical compositions such as Tarun Aahe Ratra Ajuni ("The night is
still young"). Marathi
bhajans sung by
her are also very popular among Maharashtrians. A good example is her
rendition of saint-poet
Dnyaneshwar's
Kanadawo Vithallu. Her rendition of Marathi natya sangeet composed by her
father Deenanath Mangeshkar are still popular.
Asha had spotted Pakistani singer
Adnan Sami's
talent when he was about 10 years old. At that time was performing in
London, with R
D Burman. It was she who had asked him to pursue his interests in music
seriously. When Adnan grew up and became a professional musician, Asha sang
the title duet with him for his best-selling album Kabhi to Nazar Milao. The
two came together again in the album Barse Badal. Asha has sung
ghazals for
many albums like Meraj-E-Ghazal, Aabshar-E-Ghazal and Kashish. In 2005, Asha
released a self-title album (Asha), a tribute to the four
ghazal maestros
-
Mehdi Hassan,
Ghulam Ali,
Farida Khanum
and
Jagjit Singh.
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 (One Giant Leap)
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,
an international hit which was later remixed by
Fatboy Slim. In
2001, the
CD single of
Nelly Furtado's
"I'm Like A Bird" included a "Nellie vs. Asha Remix" created by
Digital Cutup Lounge.
Asha and Lata have sung many songs
together. Their first duet was for the film Daman. Some of these include Man
Bhawan Ke Ghar Aye (Chori
Chori), Sakhi Ri Sun Bole Papihaa us Paar (Miss Mary), O chaand
jahaan woh jaaye (Sharada), Mere Mehboob Mein Kya Nahi (Mere
Mehboob), Ai kash kisi deewane ko (Aaye
Din Bahar Ke), Main Chali Main Chali (Padosan),
Chhap Tilak Sab (Main
Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki), and Man Kyun Behka (Utsav).
While singing, Lata used to hold her notebook in her right hand, while Asha
held her notebook in her left hand. This meant Lata had her face away from
Asha, making it difficult for them to "anticipate" each other.
Asha Bhosle has won seven
Filmfare Best Female
Playback Awards out of 18 nominations. She won her first two
awards in 1967 and 1968, when
Lata Mangeshkar
still used to accept the award (Mangeshkar asked not to be considered for
the award nominations after 1969 to promote new talent). After receiving the
award in 1979, Bhosle emulated her elder sister and requested that her name
not be considered for the nominations hereafter. Despite this, Bhosle is the
most frequent winner of this award to date, tying with
Alka Yagnik.
She was later given a Special Award for
Rangeela in
1996, and the
Filmfare Lifetime
Achievement Award in 2001. |
