Asha Bhosle plans an R D surprise

Barely a few weeks after a Grammy nomination for her collaboration with the American band Kronos Quartet, Asha Bhosle is all set to pay Rahul Dev Burman another homage.

And it is meant to commemorate the legandary Bollywood music composer's death anniversary on January 4.

"It's an album entitled Real RD. It features 21 of R D Burman's choicest numbers -- mostly rendered by Ashaji, with a few duets where Sudesh Bhosle will accompany her," reveals a source from Sa Re Ga Ma, the music company that owns the copyrights for most of Asha Bhosle's and RD's movie soundtracks.

A few months ago, Sa Re Ga Ma had gone all-out to promote the non-film album Asha, which contained Bhosle's version of classic ghazals.

Top 10 RD Burman songs by Asha Bhosle
Song	Film
Chori chori solah shringar karungi	Manoranjan
Kabhi kabhi sapna lagta hai	Ratnadeep
Geet sunoge huzoor	Rocky
Phir se aiyo badra bidesi	Namkeen
Mera kuch samaan	Ijaazat
Dum maro dum	Hare Rama Hare Krishna
Tu jahan miley mujhe	Doosri Sita
Chura liya hai tumne	Yaadon Ki Baraat
Yeh saaye hain	Sitara
Jeena de yeh duniya	Lava

What makes Real RD really special is that Asha will be re-interpreting the tracks, rendering the songs all over again to suit the techno-advancements in the new millennium.

She had done new versions of R D's tracks some years ago in a well-received album called RD & I.

"Ashaji is going all-out to ensure that the sounds heard in this new album are just right. She has handpicked numbers that are both popular and unknown. There's so much of R D that needs to be discovered still. We're glad she is taking personal interest in further advancing the name of the single biggest musical genius of Hindi cinema," says the Sa Re Ga Ma source.

The album will be released on January 4, followed by a series of promotional concerts by Bhosle -- all over the world.