- Asha Bhosle, born in 1933, died on April 12 due to multiple organ failure
- She sang over 12,000 songs in 20 languages and was in Guinness World Records
- Asha was known for versatile singing, from dance numbers to soulful love songs
How do you know how food tastes? Your palate needs salt to make sense of what you're eating. Asha Bhosle's voice was like salt - 'namak.' To say there'll be no artist worth her salt is a truism.
For every stage of love, there was an Asha Bhosle song.
Attraction: Aaiye Meharbaan (Howrah Bridge)
Infatuation: Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo Dil Ko (Yaadon Ki Baaraat)
Attachment: Abhi Na Jao Chhod Kar (Hum Dono)
Trust: Yeh Vaada Raha (Yeh Vaada Raha)
Worship: In Ankhon Ki Masti (Umrao Jaan)
Obsession: Piya Tu Ab To Aaja (Caravan)
Death/Surrender: Mera Kuch Saaman (Ijaazat)
Sassy, bold, seductive, playful, haunting, grieving, and soulful, Asha Bhosle could mould her voice in every way possible. Always the one to take the road not taken, she could do it all and be all.
"Mujhe film line mein 82 saal ho gaye hain. Abhi ye ichha hai gaate-gaate mera dum nikle. Mujhe sabse zyada khushi hogi main gaate-gaate jaaoon," Asha Bhosle said on her first podcast Couple of Things in 2025.
On April 12, the voice that entertained generations of music lovers fell silent. Asha Bhosle died on Sunday at Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital following multiple organ failure.
Asha Bhosle was born on September 8, 1933 in Sangli, Maharashtra, to reknowned singer Deenanath Mangeshkar and Shevanti Mangeshkar. Asha Bhosle was the third child of the couple, younger to melody queen Lata Mangeshkar and Meena Khadikar, and elder to Usha Mangeshkar and Hridayanath Mangeshkar.
After their father died when Asha Bhosle was just nine, she and Lata Mangeshkar had to start working. Asha Bhosle, who made her singing debut at the age of 10 with the song Chala Chala Nav Bala for the 1943 Marathi film Majha Bal, initially struggled to find her footing in the film industry, especially when Lata Mangeshkar was the first choice to playback for heroines.
If Lata Mangeshkar was 'Lata Didi', Asha Bhosle was 'Asha Tai'. She was pretty much the antithesis of what Lata Mangeshkar was not.
If Lata Mangeshkar voiced the morally-upright, 'pure' leading lady, Asha Bhosle broke new ground by churning out foot-tapping dance numbers featuring the vamp or the 'item girl' performing cabaret at a club.
If not for Asha Bhosle, Helen would never have had a voice. O Haseena Zulfonwali, Aa Jaane Jaan, to Ye Mera Dil, it is impossible to imagine Helen's sultry dance moves withouts Asha Bhosle's vigour and passion.
And, Asha Bhosle knew she had to do something unique to be able to carve her own niche in showbiz. If she could make you groove to Jawani Jaaneman and Dum Maaro Dum, she could make you miss your beloved with Jaaoon Kahan Jaaoon and Ye Kya Jagan Hai Doston. Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo Dil Ko, Piya Tu Ab To Aaja, Abhi Na Jao Chhod Kar, In Ankhon Ki Masti, Aage Bhi Jaane Na Tu, to Ek Main Aur Ek Tu, the range she displayed in the love song genre alone was phenomenal.
"I thought to myself, if I will continue to sing in a similar voice to didi, then I will never get work as long as didi is in the business. I won't have a name and fame of my own. After this incident, I began to change my style of singing.
"I started to watch English movies to learn Western songs, observe how they would sing in English. I also learnt how to sing qawwali, ghazals, the voice modulations needed in different forms of singing. I started to learn it all," Asha Bhosle once said.
There were many comparisons and a lot of speculation about sibling rivalry, one that neither confirmed. "People did carry tales and try to create trouble, but blood is thicker than water. I remember, sometimes both of us would be at a function and some industry types would ignore me and interact only with her, as if to prove their loyalty. Later, Didi and I would have a good laugh," Asha Bhosle had said.
Sai Paranjpye's 1998 film Saaz was reportedly based on the professional tussel between Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar, a claim the former rubbished. "It's not true at all. To have two women in long plaits, take a couple of incidents and exaggerate them into a three-hour film is such a waste of time," Asha Bhosle had said.
She eventually went on to create her own space, independent of her elder sister Lata Mangeshkar. Initially pegged as the dance number voice, Asha Bhosle loved challenges and loved proving people wrong.
During the photo installation ceremony of her late sister Lata Mangeshkar at Deenanath Mangeshkar Natyamandir Hall in Mumbai, Asha Bhosle broke down remembering her 'Didi' a few years after her death.
"She used to say, 'My blessings are always with you whether you come here or not. Mai, Baba and I are always there for you.' Now after her, whose blessings should I seek? Whom should I tell my troubles? We all have become orphans. She should have been with us guiding us for at least a few more years," she recalled.
After Asha Parekh, Sadhana, Rekha, the 62-year-old Asha Bhosle sang for Urmila Matondkar, 21 at the time, in Rangeela. She also gave chartbusters for 90s stars Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Karisma Kapoor, and Shamita Shetty.
Even in her twilight years, Asha Bhosle -- whose X bio read: "Singer since 1943" -- was never complacent.
"No one is complete. It is always about how you can change or evolve with time. I've sung songs for the main artist and for the dancers as well. I believe I could fit in well with anyone. But I wish I had sung more songs in different languages. I wish I could have done more classical singing," said the late singer, who was recognised by the Guiness Book of World Records as the most recorded artist in music history in 2011.
Asha Bhosle, who sang over 12,000 songs in as many as 20 languages, formed key partnerships with music composers, including OP Nayyar, SD Burman, RD Burman, whom she later married, Bappi Lahiri, and AR Rahman. A firm believer in destiny, the singer was also vocal about facing politics in her heyday.
"In every field, there's politics. In films too there's politics, so it is not easy. I believe a lot in destiny and I believe whatever is meant for me will come to me and what is not meant for me, I'll never get that. I faced difficulties but today when I look back, it all looks mazedar (fun) as I came out of it," she told PTI ahead of her live concert in Dubai to mark her 90th birthday.
Yet life brought its fair share of troubles. Asha Bhosle was just 16 when she eloped with her personal secretary, Ganpatrao Bhosle, and had three children with him. After enduring years of mistreatment from her husband and in-laws, she separated from him in 1960. She remarried her frequent collaborator RD Burman in 1980; they had no children.
There's a faint memory of watching Asha Bhosle live in concert on television in the early 2000s. She wore this shimmering pink saree and her signature pearl bracelet with glittering tassels, a jewellery piece that was a constant at all her live shows.
She commanded the orchestra like the boss lady she was with her unconventional voice that still holds sway over music lovers.
Asha Bhosle also tried her hand at indipop in the late 1990s and early 2000s, with several remixes of her songs such as Parde Mein Rehne Do, a move for which she courted criticism. But she gave banger such as Jaanam Samjha Karo with Leslie Lewis.
In 2006, she released Asha and Friends, singing duets, with Sanjay Dutt and Urmila Matondkar and former Australian cricketer Brett Lee, with whom she sang, You're the One for Me (Haan Main Tumhara Hoon). She was 78 when she her acting debut with the Hindi film Mai in 2012.
Just six years ago, Asha Bhosle made her YouTube debut with the single Main Hoon, dedicated to spiritual guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
Asha Bhosle, by her own admission, was "the last Mughal of this film line".
In 2023, the singer said, "If you look at the history of the film industry, only I know about it. I know the life of every person - directors, producers, artists, singers, everyone. If I start talking, it will take me three-four days. There are so many stories, I have not forgotten anything. I am the last Mughal of this film line."
So long, Asha Tai.
Also Read | Veteran Singer Asha Bhosle Dies At 92 In Mumbai
