I had the good pleasure once of dining with Asha Bhosle - a legend in Bollywood.

Even though I thought I barely knew of her then, as I found out listening to her sing, I'd spent many an afternoon watching Bollywood movies featuring her singing with my childhood best friend, a southern Indian, and his sister, while their mother cooked food for us. Good times then, sad time now.

Asha Bhosle has recorded over 10,000 songs, for over 800 movies. Let that sink in.

RIP Asha Bhosle, and thank you for the melodies. ॐ Om̐ Shanti Om̐

Legendary Indian singer Asha Bhosle dies aged 92

Asha Bhosle was born on 8 September 1933 in a musical family of Master Deenanath Mangeshkar who lived in Sangli, Maharashtra. Her father was a Theatre Actor and a Classical Singer who passed away when she was just 9. Ashaji, along with her elder sister Lata Mangeshkar started to sing and act in films to support the family. At the age of 16, she eloped with 31-year-old Ganpatrao Bhosle, marrying him against her family's wishes. However, the marriage failed badly as her husband and in-laws treated her like a prisoner. After a few years, she decided to move out and that brought her back to the singing world so as to make a living.

Her first song was 'Chala Chala Nav Bala' for the Marathi movie "Majha Bal" that was released in the year 1943. She made her Hindi film debut when she sang the song 'Saawan Aaya' for Hansraj Behl's "Chunariya" in the year 1948. Her first solo Hindi film song was for the movie "Raat Ki Rani". Geeta Dutt, Shamshad Begum and Lata Mangeshkar were the prominent singers of that time and were the first preference by directors for the female lead and the big films, which left Asha with the assignments they refused. Her assignments usually included singing for the bad girls and vamps, or songs in the second-grade movies.

In the 1950s, she sang more songs than most playback singers in Bollywood (not counting Lataji). Most of these were in low budget B or C-grade films. Her earliest songs were composed by A R Qureshi, Sajjad Hussain and Ghulam Mohammed, most of which failed to do well. Singing in Dilip Kumar-starrer "Sangdil", composed by Sajjad Hussain, she got reasonable recognition. Consequently, film director Bimal Roy gave her a chance to sing in Parineeta. Raj Kapoor signed her to sing 'Nanhe Munne Bachche' with Mohammed Rafi in "Boot Polish" (1954), which gained popularity.

During 1960s and 1970s, Asha Bhosle became the voice of the most famous dancer of Bollywood, Helen. Popular Asha Bhosle-Helen numbers include 'Piya tu ab to aaja' (Caravan), 'O Haseena Zulfon Wali' (Teesri Manzil) and 'Yeh Mera Dil' (Don). She took up the challenge of showing her versatility by taking up the challenge of singing ghazals in the films "Umrao Jaan" (1981) and "Ijazat" (1987). Her work was widely applauded. In 1995, the 62-year-old could not be stopped for any zeal and vigor in the movie "Rangeela" when she sang the super hit songs like 'Tanha Tanha' and 'Rangeela Re' which were composed by music director A. R. Rahman, who went on to record many more songs with her. In 2005, Bhosle sang for the Tamil film "Chandramukhi" and the pop song 'Lucky Lips' for Salman Khan-starrer "Lucky", both of which were chartbusters. Some of the other popular Tamil songs sung by her are 'Oh! Butterfly', 'September Maadham' and 'Vennila Vennila'.

Asha Bhosle has been awarded with the Best Filmfare Female Playback Singer Award 7 times. She also won herself a special award for "Rangeela" in 1996 and the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001. She won the National Film Award For Best Female Playback Singer twice for the songs 'Dil Cheez Kyaa Hai' in 1981 and 'Mera Kuch Saaman' in 1986.

In 1997, Asha became the first Indian singer to be nominated for the Grammy Award, for "Legacy", an album with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. She received the Dada Saheb Phalke Award in 2000 for her outstanding contribution to Indian cinema. She was also honored with the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India in 2008.

The Birmingham Film Festival also paid her a special tribute in November 2002. Additionally, she has been felicitated with seventeen Maharashtra State Awards and The Freddie Mercury Award for Outstanding Achievement in Arts.

Asha Bhosle also holds the honorary doctorates from the University of Amravati and University of Jalgaon in Literature and is among top 20 music icons of the past 50 years.

In 2011, she was officially acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most recorded artist in music history.

 

Rest in peace

Kronos Quartet - Asha Bhosle - Dum Maro Dum (Take Another Toke)

 

Oh...

Asha Bhosle - Dum Maro Dum (1971)

 

Tributes to her ! She and Lata Ji were and always will be Legends
OM Shanti

 

That was a warm and fitting tribute to her @Balisani.

I have to be honest. It wasn't until Brimful of Asha came out about 30 years ago that I'd heard of her!

RIP

 

Rest In Peace Asha Bhosle