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Asha unplugged over the years
From Helen to Urmila Matondkar, we have seen several seductive strokes of Bollywood actresses over the years. But there has been one common element that continues to impart that extra sizzle to these screen seductresses. It's the evergreen voice of singer Asha Bhosle.
Born on September 8, 1932 in a small village near the Sangli district of Maharashtra, India, Asha Bhosle celebrates her 76th birth anniversary today. As the supremely talented singer continues to rock even after her platinum jubilee, we trace down her life history from a musical Marathi family to being a global singing sensation.
Asha Bhosle was born to Dinanath Mangeshkar, a classical singer and theatre actor from the Mangeshi village in Goa (from where Dinanath derived their surname). She was trained in classical singing by her father till the age of nine when he passed away of heart disease. Subsequently the Mangeshkar family shifted to Bombay and elder sister Lata Mangeskar started singing and acting in films to earn their daily bread and butter.
Asha Bhosle followed the footsteps of Sister Lata Mangeshkar and sang her first film song Chala Chala Nav Bala for the Marathi movie Majha Bal in 1943. In 1948 she made her Hindi film debut with the song Saawan Aaya from a film named Chunariya . This was the same time that she eloped from her family and married a much-elder Ganpatrao Bhosle who was a personal secretary to her sister Lata Mangeshkar. She was only 16 and he was 31. The Mangeshkars strongly disapproved of her marriage and Lata was not on talking terms with Asha Bhosle for a long time. However with the ill-treatment from her in-laws and suspicious behaviour from her husband, the marriage didn't survive long. A repentant Asha Bhosle returned to the Mangeskhar family with two children and third still in her womb. She severed ties with Ganpatrao but the Bhosle surname remained with her.
Asha Bhosle continued to sing in films to earn money for her family. But she only got to sing for the supporting actress or vamps, which were the songs rejected by the leading female playback singers of that era like Geeta Dutt, Shamshad Begum and her sister Lata Mangeshkar.
With the texture of her voice Asha Bhosle got a chance to sing for Bimal Roy's Parineeta and Raj Kapoor's Boot Polish. But it was with O P Nayyar that she got her first big break in CID which was followed by her first big hit in B R Chopra's Naya Daur. Soon she collaborated with composers like S D Burman and Ravi. In the 70s, there were speculations of a romantic relationship between Asha Bhosle and O P Nayyar and on August 5, 1972 they parted ways personally and professionally on a bitter note.
In late 60s and through the 70s, Asha Bhosle struck a great alliance with music director R D Burman which subsequently resulted in their marriage. She soon became the voice of Helen who sizzled in the item numbers of 70s. Despite her wide vocal range, Asha Bhosle got somewhat typecast in this period and got slotted for singing only sensuous numbers (for O P Nayyar) or Westernized hip-hop tracks (with R D Burman).
This image of Asha Bhosle changed with the Urdu film Umrao Jaan (1981) where Khayyam extracted the finest nuances from her voice in poetic ghazals . She recreated the same magic with Gulzar in Ijaazat (1987) which fetched her The National Award. While Sister Lata Mangeshkar is known for her sugar-coated sweetness, Asha Bhosle is known for her wide-ranged versatility.
From Helen to Urmila Matondkar, we have seen several seductive strokes of Bollywood actresses over the years. But there has been one common element that continues to impart that extra sizzle to these screen seductresses. It's the evergreen voice of singer Asha Bhosle.
Born on September 8, 1932 in a small village near the Sangli district of Maharashtra, India, Asha Bhosle celebrates her 76th birth anniversary today. As the supremely talented singer continues to rock even after her platinum jubilee, we trace down her life history from a musical Marathi family to being a global singing sensation.
Asha Bhosle was born to Dinanath Mangeshkar, a classical singer and theatre actor from the Mangeshi village in Goa (from where Dinanath derived their surname). She was trained in classical singing by her father till the age of nine when he passed away of heart disease. Subsequently the Mangeshkar family shifted to Bombay and elder sister Lata Mangeskar started singing and acting in films to earn their daily bread and butter.
Asha Bhosle followed the footsteps of Sister Lata Mangeshkar and sang her first film song Chala Chala Nav Bala for the Marathi movie Majha Bal in 1943. In 1948 she made her Hindi film debut with the song Saawan Aaya from a film named Chunariya . This was the same time that she eloped from her family and married a much-elder Ganpatrao Bhosle who was a personal secretary to her sister Lata Mangeshkar. She was only 16 and he was 31. The Mangeshkars strongly disapproved of her marriage and Lata was not on talking terms with Asha Bhosle for a long time. However with the ill-treatment from her in-laws and suspicious behaviour from her husband, the marriage didn't survive long. A repentant Asha Bhosle returned to the Mangeskhar family with two children and third still in her womb. She severed ties with Ganpatrao but the Bhosle surname remained with her.
Asha Bhosle continued to sing in films to earn money for her family. But she only got to sing for the supporting actress or vamps, which were the songs rejected by the leading female playback singers of that era like Geeta Dutt, Shamshad Begum and her sister Lata Mangeshkar.
With the texture of her voice Asha Bhosle got a chance to sing for Bimal Roy's Parineeta and Raj Kapoor's Boot Polish. But it was with O P Nayyar that she got her first big break in CID which was followed by her first big hit in B R Chopra's Naya Daur. Soon she collaborated with composers like S D Burman and Ravi. In the 70s, there were speculations of a romantic relationship between Asha Bhosle and O P Nayyar and on August 5, 1972 they parted ways personally and professionally on a bitter note.
In late 60s and through the 70s, Asha Bhosle struck a great alliance with music director R D Burman which subsequently resulted in their marriage. She soon became the voice of Helen who sizzled in the item numbers of 70s. Despite her wide vocal range, Asha Bhosle got somewhat typecast in this period and got slotted for singing only sensuous numbers (for O P Nayyar) or Westernized hip-hop tracks (with R D Burman).
This image of Asha Bhosle changed with the Urdu film Umrao Jaan (1981) where Khayyam extracted the finest nuances from her voice in poetic ghazals . She recreated the same magic with Gulzar in Ijaazat (1987) which fetched her The National Award. While Sister Lata Mangeshkar is known for her sugar-coated sweetness, Asha Bhosle is known for her wide-ranged versatility.
Udne Ki Aasha
