Updated: September 8, 2020 1:07:46 pm
Asha Bhosle is celebrating her 87th birthday today. (Express file photo)
‘The Dean of Bollywood Reproduction’ might be an apt way to describe her, but we’re not quite sure if Asha Bhosle herself would like to be called that. She is more like a rock star, a relentlessly cool figure in the Hindi film industry whose music has touched and moved us beyond words. Given her youthful exuberance, it’s easy to forget that Bhosle turns 87 today. They are more likely to be one year younger. And, really, how amazing it would be to have her age reversed, because that would simply mean many more years of music, food, wisdom, her bluntness and spicy sense of humor.
The evergreen Bhosle has been singing Hindi movie reproductions for nearly seven decades, a feat that has earned her an entry in the Guinness Book of World Records for recording more than 11,000 songs in 20 different languages. Those are unprecedented numbers by any standards, and it is quite possible that no Bollywood singer in the future will be able to break that record. And yet, for most of her life, Bhosle had to deal with being the perennial ‘Number 2’, a not-so-subtle reference for having to stand under the gigantic shade of the banyan tree called Lata Mangeshkar.
The alleged rivalry of the Mangeshkar sisters is the stuff of legend, a favorite topic of conversation among fans of Hindi music, although Bhosle went on to turn his very distinctive style into a personal cottage industry as opposed to the multinational majesty of Lata Mangeshkar. According to music experts, the sibling rivalry dates back to his childhood. They were a family of musicians and especially after Lata, the elder Mangeshkar, decided to enter Bollywood, it was taken for granted that Bhosle would do the same to try his hand at playing. The first years were tough, but the fight did not end there. At the time, Bhosle was married to the much older Ganpatrao Bhosle, who was reportedly her secretary. She would try to sell it to the music directors, and she would personally sit and listen to the recordings. Lata, obviously protective of Bhosle, was upset with the younger sister who eloped to marry Ganpatrao. Bhosle was only 16 years old. This was the first thaw in the relationship for the sisters, whose private reality has remained out of the reach of the audience despite their own public life. Barring a few complaints from Asha Bhosle in occasional media interviews, the two have kept their grudges largely confined to home. A few years ago, Bhosle, speaking of Lata-di in a television interview, regretted that being the oldest did not help her as much as he could have. “But,” Bhosle rationalized, in our family, we don’t have a culture of professional mutual promotion. “
When Asha Bhosle entered Bollywood, Lata Mangeshkar was already a successful singer. (Express file photo)
When Bhosle entered Bollywood, Lata was already a successful singer. In addition, you had to fight Shamshad Begum and Geeta Dutt, the two legendary singers of the time. In such a scenario, Bhosle was not simply ‘Number 2’ but possibly, lower at ‘Number 4’. Bhosle had made the decision from the beginning not to sing like Lata. She wanted to make her own niche. Either he consciously chose songs that were far from the classical elegance of Lata Mangeshkar or such work occurred to him because Lata was not given to experimentation. Both scenarios are true. Early comparisons with Lata did not deter Bhosle, although they cast a shadow over her long career. Being Lata Mangeshkar’s sister also comes at a psychological cost, but Bhosle took advantage of the rejections. It was Lata’s goddess-like dominance that led to the creation of Asha Bhosle in the first place. While Lata sang for the main heroines, Bhosle stayed to fill the void. She lent her exuberant voice to the Helens of the world, cabaret girls, and vampires. The fact that the sisters are totally opposite is evident even in their public image. Bhosle’s clear personality and uninhibited sense of humor are a refreshing contrast to Lata’s “stick to the script” dignity.
The first music director to recognize and groom Asha Bhosle’s talent was OP Nayyar. He gave her a breather at the 1956 CID, but she eventually bounced back with the 1957 hit Nayyar, Naya Daur, a soundtrack celebrating the composer’s Punjabi voice. Reportedly, when Bhosle met Nayyar, she was still suffering from an inferiority complex, thanks to Lata “Big Tree” Mangeshkar. According to Bhosle’s “musical biographer” Raju Bharatan, the Nayyar-Bhosle combination produced 324 songs, a staggering number that includes hits like Dekho kasam se, Aaiye meharbaan, Isharo isharo, Jaaiye aap kahan jayenge, Zara haule haule, Yehi woh jagah hai and Aaao huzur tumko, to name just a few.
Nayyar never worked with Lata but also did not use Bhosle as a compromise candidate. He believed that Bhosle’s voice matched his aesthetic and musical style. “I never summoned her (Lata) for any of my songs. I needed a sensual, powerful, full-throated voice, and she had a thin, thread-like voice, which was not at all suitable for my music, “Nayyar said in a previous interview. The Bhosle-Nayyar relationship did not escape the wandering eye of the media. When that supposed love story met its painful end, Bhosle found another musical partnership in RD Burman, this time it ended in marriage. RD Burman in love, six years younger than her, wooed Bhosle by sending her flowers anonymously.
RD Burman and Asha Bhosle. (Express file photo)
“Music was the basic foundation of our marriage,” Bhosle once said of her husband, popularly called Pancham. Speaking to film critic Khalid Mohamed, he noted: “We could listen to Bismillah Khan, the Beatles, Shirley Bassey… and many more for hours and hours. Pancham would come out of her shower, in a lungi kurta, at 9.30 am and until 3 pm, we would sing together the albums of John Coltrane, Earth Wind and Fire, Sergio Mendes, Santana, the Rolling Stones, Blood Sweat and Tears,. Our taste in music was eclectic and that was our eternal bond. “
Like Nayyar, Pancham gave both westernized melodies and classical notes to which Bhosle added his personal touch. For Pancham, he could easily switch between the rock-infused Aaja aaja (Teesri Manzil) and Piya tu ab toh aaja (Caravan) cabaret on the one hand and the defiant hippie shout of Dum maaro dum (Hare Rama Hare Krishna) and the classic . Piya baawari (Khubsoorat) in another. However, he has declared Gulzar-RD Burman’s Ijaazat’s Mera kuch saaman a song that defines his brilliant career, along with Khayyam’s Umrao Jaan, whose sweet ghazals continue to mesmerize listeners.
Even though Bhosle has been less prolific of late, she is one of the few Golden Age singers who instantly identifies, in part due to her connection to younger music listeners. She is also a cook in her spare time and runs a number of restaurants. A few years ago, when asked by the BBC to explain the connection between singing and cooking, she said: “If you can sing well, then you need to eat well, and if you eat well, you generally enjoy cooking. Cooking comes from the heart, it must be done with love, for others to enjoy, like singing ”.
From the music to the food, can you think of anyone else who has led a life as hectic as Asha Bhosle? It’s unclear what uncharted territory the legendary singer will chart next. What is clear, however, is that history will judge this ‘Number 2’ as insurmountable.
(Shaikh Ayaz is a writer and journalist living in Mumbai)
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