Asha Bhosle began singing at the age of ten for a Marathi film. She has never stopped singing since then. When life has served her tears she has turned them into streams of mellifluence.
Were it not for her sister the Goddess Of Melody Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle (AB) would indisputably qualify as the best female vocalist of Hindi cinema. While functioning under a banyan tree that was her sister, AB’s contribution is incredible. Before composers O P Nayyar and R D Burman came into her life, all the songs filmed on the leading ladies went to Didi Lata, while Asha was given the leftovers: the songs lip-synced by the supporting actresses, and of course the cabaret songs, largely filmed on Helen.
O P Nayyar changed the rules of the game. More than R D Burman (who gave the crème de le crème to Lataji) Nayyar made Asha the voice of the heroine Vyjayanthimala in Naya Daur and Madhubala in Mr & Mrs 55, Howrah Bridge, was followed by Sharmila Tagore (Kashmir Ki Kali, Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi, Sawan Ki Ghata), Asha Parekh ( Mere Sanam, Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon).
Nayyar who turned her career around also became the bane of AB’s existence. Years ago when I met Asha Bhosle—back then she lived on Peddar Road, South Mumbai in a flat adjacent to her sister Lataji—she had confided in me, “The song Chayan se humko aapne jeene na diya which Nayyar Saab composed for me was the song of my life with him.”
After her failed marriage to Ganpatroa Bhosle (a man twice her age with whom she eloped in spite of Lataji’s vehement protests), her relationship with O P Nayyar was her second abusive relationship. In spite of crippling personal tragedies–she lost her daughter and her son –She is still singing with a diva’s self assurance. In addition, she’s a proud restaurateur owning a worldwide chain of eateries where Ashaji’s own home recipes are on the menu.
Ashaji is far from satisfied with her vast achievements. She likes to see herself as a simple person. Which is not really what she is. The rivalry that she felt with her sister was not media-imagined. She did indeed resent the fact that a Madan Mohan gave all his gems to Lataji even though she, Asha Bhosle, had given Jhumka gira re the biggest hit of Madan Mohan’s career .
When I told AB once what Lataji had to say about AB’s versatility, AB replied, “It feels good to hear her say she can’t sing what I can. But I disagree with her. I feel if she wanted to sing my kind of songs she would have. But she didn’t want to. She didn’t have to. She got to sing all the songs for the heroines, so she didn’t have to sing for the other female characters in a film. I got those songs. And I made the best of them.”
Recalling those days of struggle Ashaji said to me in an old interview, “When there was already a Taj Mahal I came to build another one. Bahut mushqil thi (it was very difficult). Who would want to go to another singer when there was already a Lata Mangeshkar? On top of that, I was her younger sister.Hamesha humein ek tarazu mein tola gaya. Janam bhar hum ussi tarazu mein baithe rahe (we were weighed on the same scale and I was always being weighed unfavourably). It was very tough for me to escape all these hurdles. I still haven’t escaped those comparisons. Didi and I had to be different singers. Copying her would have meant the end of my career even before it started.No one would have entertained a copy of Didi. Just as long as Kishore Kumar was there no other male voice stood a chance. I first had to get songs that were comparable with Didi’s. I had to cultivate a Western style of singing. I had no choice.I had to be prepared to do any kind of song that was offered to me. Didi became instantaneously successful. Plus there were other singers like Geeta Dutt.”
In addition, AB had to fight off the stigma of singing sensuous songs. In the golden era of playback singing, cabaret and dance numbers were ranked as cheap. But AB managed somehow to make her presence felt. .
She is enthused by food as much as music and is proud of her growing chain of restaurants. AB loves to feed people. She started cooking for her children. Then later when she became good at it her son suggested she write a cookery book. But she refused. Instead she decided to turn her passion into business by opening restaurants across the world. AB personally supervises the menu at these restaurants. She not only puts her own recipes on the menu, she also includes recipes from her colleagues. For examples, there is the Sultanpuri Kebab which she got from the poet-lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri.
Asha Bhosle began singing at the age of ten for a Marathi film. She has never stopped singing since then. When life has served her tears she has turned them into streams of mellifluence. With Lata Mangeshkar gone, Asha is all we have.
Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha.
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