Celebrating Asha Bhosle - Page 5

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God bless her 👏 👏 👏

Asha Bhosle: A Contented Soul
Like poetry in motion. That is how the lyrics of life move for Asha Bhosle. The journey has been a long one. But she has always had a spring in her step, a song on her lips. And now, the Dadasaheb Phalke Award. The lips curl upwards to shape a smile. ''Who wouldn't want to receive an award?'' A melodious silence punctuates the pause. ''BR Chopra, my rakhi brother, called up to inform me that I had been chosen to receive the award. It was disbelief at first. Then the reality of the truth took over.
But I'll just say that I am lucky... and continue with my work. Just like I have always done.'' Asha is happy. Because ''people are happier than I am about my receiving the award!'' Call it her sense of humour or what you will, but charm is second nature to this lady. And this charm takes talk of the Dadasaheb Phalke coming a little too late in its stride. ''I have never been on the lookout for recognition. I just do what I am meant to do.'' Asha Bhosle, of course, is meant to sing... cut albums... perform live... entertain. And, occasionally, feel nervous. Concerts disconcert Asha Bhosle. ''I do feel a bit nervous while performing live. But the encouragement of the audience is all I need to feel reassured. What I like about live performances is the instant feedback of the audience.''
The audience has its favourites. Asha has her own. ''When I think of playback singers, I think of Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar. Among music directors, I like RD Burman —and not because he was my husband.'' As a singer who sings every song as if it is her first one, Asha does not blow her own trumpet. But then, as a singer whose songs find a voice through millions of voices, she doesn't need to.
Asha is a satisfied soul, she is satisfied with her ''career,'' satisfied with her ''family life'' and satisfied with the way she is. Being Asha Bhosle is enough for Asha Bhosle. And that is an achievement worthy of an award.

Part I

September 8, 2003 Arthur J Pais In a career spanning over five decades, Asha Bhosle has sung for over 50 music composers ranging from Allah Rakha Qureshi, the tabla maestro who occasionally composed songs for films, to the youngest composers today. "I sang for Tanuja over 30 years ago," she had once told me, "and I have sung for her daughter Kajol." She chuckled, and said, "I am sure I will be around to sing for Kajol's daughter." rediff.com lists 70 milestones to celebrate the 70 years of the versatile singer's life. 1. Asha Bhosle enters the movies in 1948 with the now forgotten Chunaria. The music scene is dominated by Shamshad Begum and Geeta Roy. Asha's elder sister Lata Mangeshkar is slowly making a mark, but while Lata shoots to the top in about five years, Asha has to wait for many more years. 2. Her earliest songs are composed by the likes of A R Qureshi, Sajjad Hussain and Ghulam Mohammed, but none of them are huge hits. Her songs in Sangdil, starring Dilip Kumar and composed by Sajjad, get her some recognition in 1952. 3. Bimal Roy is one of the earliest filmmakers to recognise her talent and uses her, though sparingly, in Parineeta (1953). Most of the songs are sung by Geeta Roy. 4. Raj Kapoor considers Lata a divine gift. But he is also alerted by her younger sister's talent. In Boot Polish, Asha sings the phenomenally popular Nanhe munne bachche with Mohammed Rafi. 5. Composer O P Nayyar gives her a big break in CID, starring Dev Anand, Shakila and newcomer Waheeda Rehman. The 1956 film also had songs by Shamshad Begum and Geeta Roy. A few years later, as a romantic relationship develops between Asha and Nayyar, he uses her voice exclusively for nearly two decades till their friendship ends. 6. Nayyar gets her to sing in two big hits, Tumsa Nahin Dekha and Naya Daur. The Maang ke saath tumhara number in the latter becomes very famous. 7. The success of Naya Daur (1957), produced by B R Chopra, forges a special bond between Chopra and Asha. In the following decades, she would be the principal female singer in many Chopra hits, including Waqt and Gumraah. 8. Contrary to the opinion that only O P Nayyar recognised her early in her career, a handful like Khayyam give her good assignments in the 1950s. Though she sings only a few words in the title track of Khayyam's Phir Subah Hogi, you feel her presence throughout the haunting number dominated by Mukesh. 9. Many of her songs are picturised on the likes of Helen and other oomph girls. Her talent as a singer of immense resources is seen in Sone Ki Chidiya. The 1958 film had a haunting score by Nayyar. 10. Asha becomes a sensation with the frothy numbers S D Burman has composed for her and Kishore Kumar for Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi (1958). Songs like Ek ladki bheegi bhaagi si make the film an evergreen musical comedy. 11. C Ramachandra is another composer who gives her a boost in the first decade of her career. Her songs for him in V Shantaram's films, especially Navrang (1959), further consolidates her position. 12. Newcomer Ravi makes an auspicious debut with Devendra Goel's Vachan in which Asha sings the lovely Chandamama door ke. 13. Asha and Ravi click in Dilli Ka Thug. Her duet Cat mane billi with Kishore Kumar is a funny, fast-moving song that consolidates their position in the industry. 14. Guru Dutt, the producer of CID, remembers Asha when he launches Chaudvin Ka Chand. Ravi wants Geeta Dutt, Guru Dutt's wife, to sing the film's major songs, but Geeta backs out as she claims she cannot do full justice to them. Guru Dutt insists Asha sing the songs. 15. The success of Chaudvin Ka Chand's music prompts composers to prefer Asha to Geeta. 16. Geeta Dutt sings most of the songs in Guru Dutt's Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam (1962), her last major film, but Asha has the one memorable song, Bhanwra bada nadan. 17. Bimal Roy and composer S D Burman give Asha a haunting song, Ab ke baras in Bandini. The film had a wonderful Lata number Mera gora ang laile but Asha's emotion-packed song proves she is in the major league. 18. Jaidev challenges Asha with his intricate composition in Mujhe jeene do and Ramlal makes excellent use of her voice in Sehra. The film is produced by V Shantaram, who thinks Asha's vibrant voice is better than sister Lata's. 19. Kishore Kumar has composed music for half a dozen films and Asha is his first choice. Listen to her evocative songs in Door Gagan Ki Chaon Mein (1964) and you will realise what a wonderful team this was. 20. The songs of Yash Chopra's Waqt (1965) become a big hit. Ravi, who prefers Asha over Lata, is the composer. 21. Asha has a mellow, lingering and memorable song Tora man darpan in Kaajal (1965). Once again, Ravi proves that Nayyar is not the only composer who has a great rapport with the singer. 22. Mere Sanam, another great hit of 1965, has several beautiful songs sung by Asha and composed by Nayyar. Jaayiye aap and Yeh hai reshmi zulfon ka andhera. Both solos present two distinct emotions. Asha does full justice to both. The former is a haunting love number while the latter is a seductive one. 23. In Teen Deviyaan (1965), S D Burman brings Kishore Kumar and Asha to produce fast-paced, immensely popular music. 24. Phir Wohi Dil Laya Hoon has a superb, fast-paced score by Nayyar. This Nasir Hussain film is a roaring hit. Asha's pensive number, Aankhon se jo utri, once again demonstrates that she can turn even the most intricate tunes into classics. 25. Rising composer R D Burman challenges Asha's vocal chords with Aaja aaja (sung with Mohammed Rafi). The film, Teesri Manzil (1966), produced by Nasir Hussain, is another huge hit. 26. Madan Mohan, another composer bewitched by Lata, keeps aside a challenging song for Asha from time to time. How can one forget the enchanting and seductive Jhumka gira re in Mera Saaya (1966)? Though Lata sang the hit title song, Asha's formidable rendering of Jhumka gira re made it a chart-topper too. 27. The seductive Raat akeli hai picturised on Tanuja in Jewel Thief (1967) is one of the film's highlights. 28. Asha has another highly popular seductive number, Parde mein rehne do, in Shikar. The 1968 film, with Shankar-Jaikishen's music, runs more than 50 weeks in Mumbai, and is one of the biggest hits of the 1960s. 29. Raj Kapoor is not on speaking terms with Lata and Asha gets to sing the songs of Mera Naam Joker (1970), including the seductive rain number, Mera ang lag ja. The songs are popular but the movie fails at the box office. 30. The 1970s see Asha reaching dizzying heights. Her song Dum maro dum, composed by R D Burman, in Hare Rama Hare Krishna (1971), becomes a phenomenal hit, running for 40 to 50 weeks. Kishore Kumar says the song is powerful enough to bring a dead person to life. 31. With several hit songs for RD in films like Caravan (1971) and Bombay To Goa (1972), Asha moves closer to the composer. Soon the gossip columns report her relationship with Nayyar is on the rocks. 32. Asha now also sings a few duets with RD, the most popular being Monica, Oh my Darling and Duniya Mein in Caravan and Apna Desh (1972). 33. By the early 1970s, Asha has also proved that she can excel in classical songs. Ravi gets her to sing bhajans and classical melodies in Grihasti and Kaajal. 34. Composers Shankar and Jaikishen are beholden to Lata but they gave Asha some fine numbers too. For instance, the haunting title track of Hare Kaanch Ki Choodiyaan. 35. In 1973, Asha sings some lovely RD compositions, like Chura liya hai tumne in Yaadon Ki Baaraat (1973). Sung with Rafi, the song is still remembered for its infectious melody.

Part II

September 8, 2003 Arthur J Pais Asha's milestones continued: 36. The O P Nayyar-Asha Bhosle association comes to an end in Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye (1974). The solo Chain se humko agar is an award-winning hit though it is deleted from the film. 37. The 1975 hit Khel Khel Mein is yet another R D Burman favourite. It had fun-filled duets like Khullam khulla pyar karenge, but its most outstanding number was the mournful solo Sapna mera. 38. In Chhoti Si Baat (1975), she teams up yet again with Salil Chowdhury who got her to sing the lovely Baag mein in Chanda Aur Suraj. This time, a new singer to Mumbai called Yesudas joins her in the Janeman janeman number. 39. Kadambari, the 1976 arthouse movie starring Shabana Azmi, has music by sitar maestro Ustad Vilayat Khan. Her number Ambar, one of her finest songs, is soothing and haunting. 40. She sings a lovely song in Ghar (1978), Bottle se ek baat, composed by R D Burman. 41. In the 1980s, she travels across the US, Canada and Britain to give concerts that draw thousands of South Asians. Unlike other singers, including Lata Mangeshkar who remains stiff, she moves around. Her concerts are always lively. 42. She scales epoch-creating heights with the Rekha-starrer Umrao Jaan (1981). Khayyam's soft, lingering songs like In aankhon ki masti mein and Dil cheez are among the best film songs ever composed. 43. Though there is no composer like Nayyar who will give her all the songs in a film, she continues to get the best from newer and older composers. O Maria in the Kamal Haasan-Rishi Kapoor-Dimple starrer Saagar (1985) further enhances her reputation. 44. Anu Malik asks her to sing for the 1984 hit Sohni Mahiwal, starring Sunny Deol, Poonam Dhillion and Zeenat Aman. 45. RD reinvents his and Asha's career with an astounding score in the 1987 Gulzar film Ijaazat. The hauntingly sad song Mera kuch samaan sounds sadder by Asha's passionate rendering. Pancham and director-lyricist Gulzar have said that Mera kuch samaan was a very difficult song to sing as the lyrics were written in prose. 46. With the rise of singers like Anuradha Paudwal and Alka Yagnik, her career starts sliding but she simply cannot be written out. Witness her songs in Khoon Bhari Maang (1988), composed by Rajesh Roshan. 47. RD's career is shaky in the late 1980s with too many flops. Yet, from time to time, he and Asha come out with winning melodies like Pyar ke modh par, a duet she sings with Suresh Wadkar in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Parinda (1989). 48. She makes time for non-film melodies. Some of these songs are composed by the likes of Jaidev who had got her to sing some of his haunting melodies in Hum Dono and Mujhe Jeene Do. 49. The 1990 film Lekin is produced by Lata and her brother Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar. The film, whose score is composed by Hridaynath, sees Lata singing more numbers. But Asha also gets an opportunity to transform the intricate song Jhoote naina into a masterpiece. 50. She records a few songs such as Ave Maria abroad and sings Bow down mister with Boy George. 51. To commemorate her 60th birthday, EMI India releases three cassette sets of her 1933 works. Of these, her devotional songs in the cassette Bala Main Bairagan Hoongi comes as a surprise to those who are not fully familiar with her versatility. Here, she sings ghazals by composer Ghulam Ali with ease. The Golden Collection: The Ever Versatile Asha Bhosle, an anthology of popular film hits, is also released. 52. Composer A R Rahman ropes her in to sing in Ram Gopal Varma's Rangeela (1995). The song Tanha Tanha is especially famous. "Lata and Asha are legends," Rahman once told me. "I think of them only when I feel I have composed something that fits their stature." 53. She says she dislikes the remix business. She says she produced Rahul and I (1996), a remix of songs she had done with her late husband R D Burman, because she was afraid someone else would come up with a terrible remix. 54. In Daud (1997), the O bhanware number with Yesudas reminds listeners that Asha is still in command over her voice. The music is composed by Rahman. 55. Among her other outstanding non-film albums is Dil Padosan Hain in which she does terrific justice to R D Burman's complex tunes, just the way Lata boosted Burman's compositions in films like Aandhi. 56. Janam Samjha Karo, a non-film album with Leslie Lewis, is a big hit and wins Asha the 1997 MTV Award. 57. Kamal Haasan's Hey! Ram is a box office dud but Asha and veteran South Indian composer Ilayaraja create a haunting melody with the song Janmon ki. 58. Legacy, another non-film album, is a collaboration between Ustad Ali Akbar Khan and Asha. The project, which celebrates classical music, is a big hit. 59. Govind Nihalani's Takshak (1999) bombs, but Rahman's score gets much praise. One of the best songs in the film, Rang de, goes to Asha Bhosle. 60. Rahman gives her yet another memorable tune in Subhash Ghai's Taal, Kahin aag lage, a song proclaiming the pain of unfulfilled love. 61. Vishal Bharadwaj, another composer of the new generation, gets her to sing the title track in Dil Pe Mat Le Yaar (2000), starring Tabu and Manoj Bajpai. 62. Asha gets the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. She had long ago, after having won half a dozen Filmfare Awards, asked not to be considered for the annual Filmfare Awards. But the 2001 Lifetime Achievement Award was different. It saluted a career that had led to songs in dozens of films not only in Hindi but a multitude of Indian languages. 63. The Kambakth ishq number in Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya (2001), composed by Sandeep Chowta, raised the younger composers' faith in the veteran singer. She is at her seductive best. 64. Asha gets the most coveted Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2001. Lata, who had won the award a few years earlier, says the honour for Asha was long overdue. 65. Her duet with Udit Narayan, Radha kaise na jale, in the Aamir Khan-starrer Lagaan (2001) wins her more fame. 66. After singing for Gulzar's films like Lekin, Asha sings for his daughter Meghna's directorial debut, Filhaal (2002). Though the film isn't a success, Anu Malik's score is well received. 67. She turns composer with Aap Ki Asha (2002), but the album does not do well. 68. She starts a restaurant in Dubai. She says cooking has been a passion for many decades and she has been collecting recipes from all over India and trying them out in her kitchen. 69. The Chori pe chori number in Shaad Ali's Saathiya (2002) is another example of the wonderful bond between Rahman and Asha. "She is well beyond 60," says the composer. "But she sounds as fresh as someone who is 16!" 70. Asha Bhosle's concerts abroad continue to be big draws. She is not afraid to perform with Adnan Sami, whose popularity is soaring. Their performances in over a dozen cities in North America and the West Indies this summer are awesome. The two featured in the hot-selling album Kabhi to nazar milao

Anoushka Shankar in race for Grammy awards

Asha Bhosle - Playback singer

Publish Date : 12/10/2005 11:12:00 AM Source : Entertainment News Onlypunjab.com

Veteran playback singer Asha Bhosle today expressed her happiness at being nominated for the prestigious Grammy awards.

''I am extremely happy and delighted. I wish Panchamda (R D Burman, her late husband) was here with me to celebrate,'' Asha, who is in Pune, said.

The award function is slated to be held in the US early next year.

Asha Bhosle's album, in collaboration with Kronos Quartet, titled 'You've Stolen My Heart - songs from R D Burman's Bollywood' is in the race for the Grammy awards.

Asha (72) and renowned sitar maestro Pandit Ravi Shankar's daughter, Anoushka Shankar, have been nominated in the category of 'best contemporary world music album'. Ravi Shankar's other daughter Norah Jones has been nominated in the 'pop collaboration' with vocals category.

Anoushka has also been nominated in the same category for her album 'Rise'.

Her half-sister Norah Jones has been nominated in the pop collaboration with vocals category for 'Virginia Moon'.

The nominations were announced in the US yesterday.

In 1997, Asha's album 'Legacy' with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan had been nominated for the Grammy award.

Recently, Asha had performed in US and UK to sing the revised version of compositions of renowned composer R D Burman

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ASIAN POP

It is the voice that has launched a thousand faces. Asha Bhosle never appears on screen in the hundreds of films Bollywood churns out every year in India. But for over 50 years, she's been the voice behind a courtesan in Lucknow, a hippie in Kathmandu or a seductive temptress in skimpy satin in some mafia don's den in Bombay. Now over 70, the superdiva of Indian music, perhaps the most recorded artist in the world, has teamed up with the Grammy Award-winning Kronos Quartet to produce a valentine to the music of Bollywood, You've Stolen My Heart: Songs from R. D. Burman's Bollywood by Kronos Quartet and Asha Bhosle. While Bollywood cinema is more visible in American pop culture today than ever before, the music of Bollywood, which millions of Indians just have hardwired into their brains, has a harder time crossing over. The West might have MTV, but "Indian films, each with 6-10 songs, are the original MTV," says Bhosle's son and manager, Anand. American audiences have difficulty relating to the songs, missing the cultural references and the poetry of the lyrics, fixating instead on the crescendo of 101 shrieking violins. "Incorporating the music in my classroom mainly for an American audience is a challenge," says Arundhati Banerjee, director of the MIT-India program at MIT in Cambridge, Mass., who teaches "song and dance" in her courses on Bollywood. "But I do think the West is ready for a crossover." Bhosle hopes that You've Stolen My Heart might do just that. "It's a new experiment for me," says Bhosle. "It's a chance to go outside our boundaries." It's been a new experiment for Kronos as well, which has never worked with a lead singer before, says founder and artistic director David Harrington. The quartet usually works closely with composers. But Bollywood composer R. D. Burman, whose music first caught Harrington's ears more than 15 years ago, died in 1994. The closest link to his music was his wife and muse, Asha Bhosle. Burman and Bhosle, according to Harrington, made quite a musical pair, though most Westerners have never heard of them. "I think R. D. Burman is one of the greatest composers of the 20th century," he says. "As an orchestrator I'd put him in the same sentence as Stravinsky or Debussy. As a melodicist I would put him with Schubert or George Gershwin." And Asha? "As a vocalist she has the largest vocabulary of vocal techniques I have seen," says Harrington. He says this album is a way to introduce Western audiences to "a Stravinsky-like figure on one hand, and an Elvis-like figure on the other." A rather grandmotherly Elvis. Bhosle is a small woman, her hair tied into a neat bun, her cream-colored print sari wrapped decorously around her against the San Francisco chill. "The first time I met Asha-ji she had diamonds on and was dressed in the most beautiful sari I had ever seen, and she looked very regal," says Harrington. "Then I looked down and saw the Queen of Bollywood was wearing tennis shoes. I thought, 'I love this woman.'" Asha Bhosle started singing when she was 10. Her elder sister Lata Mangeshkar was already working as a singer in films, supporting the family with her voice after their father died suddenly in 1942. Bhosle followed in her footsteps. But when she was 16 she eloped to marry Ganpat Bhosle, a man many years her senior. That marriage soon turned sour. He was a ration inspector who made little money, and she was soon supporting the family. She doesn't much like to dwell on those days, but her daughter Varsha Bhosle remembered bits and pieces of the past in a 1993 column for the Indian magazine, Gentlemen: "The earliest memory I have of my mother, Mrs Asha Bhosle, is a fleeting montage of doorbells rung very late in the night, a sobbing woman hugging me back to sleep, the strains of strange, repetitive singing emanating from behind a closed door ... I bang on the door wanting to go in, but am roughly pulled away by a man when the music threatens to cease." When she was 27 and pregnant with her third child, Anand, Asha Bhosle could take it no more. Again her daughter Varsha remembers: "Aai (Mother) came into her own quite suddenly. One day it struck her that her third and advanced state of pregnancy may not be able to sustain the daily dose of bashing that was her lot. The next day, she left behind every single paisa she had earned, her bungalow, her car, even her clothes, and sought refuge with Mai Mangeshkar, the grand old materfamilias." "It was hard to come back home, very hard," says Asha Bhosle. "Of course, a mother is a mother -- she will always take her child back." Then she adds with a glimmer of a smile, "Though of course she never stopped reminding me, 'See, didn't I tell you?'" Within months, though, still craving independence, Bhosle moved out and set up her own home with her three kids. But the scandal did cause a rift between her and the elder sister she idolized, which took years to heal. "There was this wall between us," she told the Indian film magazine Filmfare years later. Lata Mangeshkar had by then become the gold standard of the playback singing industry. As Asha Bhosle struggled to make her mark, her biggest competition and mark for comparison was her own sister. "Didi [the elder sister] was singing the love songs, the sad songs, and I knew that if I did something different, something new, only then would people give me songs," says Bhosle. The "something different" was cabaret songs. At that time, in Bollywood films the heroine had a holier-than-thou virginal image that was made even more ethereal by Lata Mangeshkar's singing. But filmmakers also wanted a little masala to spice up their films. That was where the vamps came in. Some actresses, like the exotic-looking Helen, made an entire career playing the vamp in hundreds of films. And the voice behind the vamp was invariably Bhosle's. In the film "Taxi Driver" she sings "Jeene Do Jiyo" [Live and Let Live], probably the first cabaret song in Hindi cinema. It clicked. "Many have tried to imitate Lata, and some have come close. But no one has tried to imitate Asha, because no one can," says music aficionado Arvind Kumar, the founding editor of India Currents magazine. "Lata is impossibly perfect, pure. But Asha I can relate to -- the one that has lived life, made mistakes, fallen down and gotten up again." Perhaps that is why even now at big South Asian dance parties, Bhosle still rules the roost. "Asha Bhosle's songs, from Jawani Jan-E-Man to Rang De, are probably the most requested numbers at every Desilicious party, " says Ashu Rai, resident DJ of these popular New York City dance parties, though many of the partygoers might have been born long after Bhosle had her biggest hits. "Asha's music transcends every desi demographic out there, defying all stereotypes -- queer and straight, young and old, gay and lesbian, Pakistan/Indian/Indo-Caribbean, drag queens and muscleboys, butch girls and femmes." She might be the darling of drag queens and society ladies now, but in the '60s and '70s it was tough to be a single mother in the industry. Bhosle remembers how she would leave her house at 10 in the morning and not come home till 2 at night, leaving the children with a family servant. If any of the kids were sick, she'd come back in between songs to check on them. Gossip columnists always had their claws out, making snide comments about her friendship with men like composer O. P. Nayyar. Tongues wagged when she married R. D. Burman in 1980. In fact, the two had met years before: He was first a fan while she was singing for his father, himself a leading composer. "I remember he was thin and short, and I of course looked older and was also quite fat," she laughs. "He just took my autograph and left." Years later, when he quit his studies to become a composer, she scolded him for not graduating. "He didn't like it -- he got up and left," she recalls. Later, she became one of his best-known collaborators. When rumors bubbled about their professional relationship turning romantic, conservative Indian society frowned on this middle-aged mother of three embarking on a love affair. "People don't like it if you live honestly," says Bhosle with a shrug. "They like hypocrisy and lies." She married Burman to end the swirling gossip around their relationship. But their collaboration set the music industry ablaze. Her son Anand remembers going to a concert in 1972 or 1973 where all the biggest stars of Indian music, including his aunt, Lata Mangeshkar, were performing. "Right at the end it was Mom's turn, and when she and R. D. Burman entered together the audience went berserk," says Anand. At that time their biggest hit, "Dum Maro Dum" (literally, "Take Another Toke") from a film about hippies, was banned on All India Radio. People listened to it on neighboring Sri Lanka's Radio Ceylon. When R. D. and Bhosle came on, says Anand, "it was as if Tom Jones had been performing and suddenly a superstar like Michael Jackson or Elvis Presley came on stage." "Dum Maro Dum" is part of the Kronos collaboration. Asha Bhosle shrugs when asked if she was nervous re-recording songs that made her a household name 30 or 40 years ago. "I was more sad than nervous," she says wistfully. "The music director [Burman] wasn't there anymore in front of me. The musicians I used to know were not there anymore." But David Harrington tried to re-create the Bollywood studio as best he could, adding tabla maestro Zakir Hussain and Chinese pipa player Wu Man to the lineup. Then thanks to overdubbing and "a truckload of instruments" ranging from the Uzbek chang to Harrington's granddaughter's tambourine, Kronos created the sensation of a Bollywood orchestra where some 50 musicians might have been playing in one small room, the sounds from one microphone leaking into another. "There is one point in the song 'Saajan Kahan Jaoongi Main' [Beloved, Where Would I Go?] where [violinist] John Sherba and I overdubbed ourselves over 30 times because we wanted the screaming violin sounds you only hear in Indian cinema," says Harrington. But most of all the album tries to recreate the playfulness of Burman's music. Bhosle told Harrington that Burman used a mouthwash bottle for the opening of the dacoit-den sizzler "Mehbooba Mehbooba" [Beloved, O Beloved] and a glass for the first bars of "Chura Liya" [You've Stolen My Heart]. "He was thinking of the world as a musical instrument," says Harrington. "If R. D. Burman were alive today, I am absolutely confident he would be writing music for Kronos." Toward the end of his life, Burman had fallen on hard times because tastes had changed in the industry. "A time comes for every artist when the calls stop coming," says Bhosle. "Now if he had been alive he would have seen this time as well when everyone is once again listening to R. D. Burman." Not only is his music back in favor, but every Tom, Dick and Hari is remixing his songs with all kinds of beats, which Bhosle sometimes finds jarring. "Our music is being corrupted with terrible remixes," she says. But Bhosle herself is no stranger to experimentation. She has sung over 20,000 songs in at least 14 languages. She's had hits in languages she doesn't speak. Her daughter Varsha remembers how she taught herself English to record "Ave Maria" in the United Kingdom. She has sung with Boy George as well as with classical sarodist Ali Akbar Khan. And she's even had a British hit song dedicated to her: Cornershop's "Brimful of Asha." She's lip-synched for actresses and now does so for their daughters, perhaps even their granddaughters. "I just ask how old is the actress and change my voice accordingly," says Bhosle. One moment she's sweet sixteen, dreaming of first love. Next moment, there's a hiccup in her voice and a flounce in her modulation, and you're looking at the winking paste diamond in the belly button of a cabaret dancer. "After one of the takes -- she did a particularly sexy turn of phrase -- she looked over at me and she winked and said, 'Not bad for a grandma, eh?'" recalls Harrington. Her versatility, a word that she rolls her eyes at, makes her an ideal ambassador for Bollywood music to the West. "Over the years, she has given her voice equally to vamps and heroines," says MIT's Banerjee. "She straddles a really wide range of singing modes." And the eclectic influences from flamenco gypsy to Santana to James Bond razzmatazz that made R. D. Burman's work suspect to classical cultural purists makes his music the perfect melting pot for a multi-culti world, says Anand Bhosle. "I want to take his music to Latin America. I wonder if they know of him and how much he used Latin music in his work." Asha Bhosle's daring to take risks, to reinvent herself even at 70, hasn't always gone down well in the industry. "People would criticize me a lot for experimenting," says Bhosle. "They would say I am just a passing phase, but I didn't say anything. Time gave them the answer." Now Bhosle's grandson Chintu is in his own band, Band of Boys . "They sing well," says the diva diplomatically. "Though they haven't all learned the classical basics." At 70 plus, she's still learning the basics, practicing her scales every day. "Every song is my first song," she says. "If it's bad, I won't get a second chance." When she was growing up, she just wanted to be a housewife: "I love to cook and clean." Now her son is managing a chain of restaurants named after his mother, called Asha's, in cities like Birmingham and Dubai. Film actor Randhir Kapoor once told her her cooking was even better than her singing. Her family agrees. "You can say what you want about Mom's voice, but her cooking is a different matter," Anand jokes. Bhosle chuckles. She seems genuinely happy to have her son managing her affairs. She says that most of her life she had to go it alone. She had nobody to push her, promote her, support her, encourage her. "Now my grown children are my strength," she says. When she gets nervous about her voice, it's her son Anand who reassures her. But she doesn't plan too much into the future. "That I've reached this far is my zidd, my determination," she says. "Other than that, I make no plans." Now Kronos Quartet -- with new cellist Jeffrey Zeigler replacing Jennifer Culp -- is gearing up for concerts with Asha Bhosle in San Francisco, Los Angeles and London before a grand finale at Carnegie Hall in New York.

David Harrington says he only wishes he had reached R. D. Burman himself while he was still living. "It's not often we find music or anything in life that actually makes you feel better," he says. "This music makes me feel better. And I trust that." He doesn't know if Kronos will ever work with another lead singer like Asha Bhosle. "But at least we started at the very top," he says. .

Asha Bhosle
Genre: World/Reggae, Film/Bollywood, India
Hometown: India

If there is one singer who could sing sensuous numbers like 'Piya tu ab to aaja' from Caravan and 'Raat akeli hai' from Jewel Thief and the masterly ghazal compositions in Umrao Jaan like 'Dil cheez kya hai' and 'In aankhon ke masti' with proficiency then it has to be Asha Bhosle. Talking about her renditions in 'Umrao Jaan', Asha says, 'I was skeptical about the results when Khayyam lowered my pitch by half a note. But I have always believed that the composer calls the tune, so I sang just as Khayyam wanted me to do.'

She was undoubtedly at her best during the mid 80's and it was then that Asha rendered 'Mera kuch saaman tumhaare paas pada hai', the R.D. Burman composition for Gulzar's Ijaazat that won her the National Award as Best Singer. At this point, there were quite a few who felt that Asha was not just Lata's peer, but had forged ahead of her and it had taken Asha the best part of 35 years to achieve this.

http://www.mag4you.com/music/asha-bhosle.asp?bhcp=1

Asha was just wonderful. If she was ever insecure, I don't know why she was, because no one could beat her, just no one, not her sister Lata nor anyone else! She truly deserves every bit of the iconic status she has in India today.

Only Asha

Six decades in music, and you also chose to start a restaurant in Dubai.
What's on the menu?
Are there more outlets on the anvil?
Can someone really do anything they are passionate about, irrespective of age?
In your early days, did you feel uncomfortable doing oomph numbers?
You've always been forward looking
You chose to move on from your first marriage.
Your husband did not approve of you singing for films?
But that didn't stop you from carrying on singing.
Tell us about your relationship with Pancham (R D Burman).
Tell us how you came to sing with Boy George. Did you use his makeup or did he use yours!
And now you are remixing numbers.
Are the reports of sibling rivalry between you and Lata didi exaggerated?
"She's still 16 at heart," A R Rahman says about you. How do you retain your zest for life?
What do you feel about singers like Madonna?
How do you gear up for a show?
You have five grandchildren. What do you think about being a homemaker and a career woman?
How do you keep fit? Do you meditate?
What else is new on your plate?
Do you identify more with today's generation or your own?
What is your message for the Indian woman?

Tina Ambani gets personal with Asha Bhosle

It's as if destiny singled out Asha Bhosle to transform her with a wave of life's magic wand. Nearly six decades after her foray into the world of music, Bhosle continues to rock. Reinventing consistently both musically, and through tangential career choices. At 70, she remains sharp as a pin. Her latest love is the guitar, which she strums with great panache when not dashing off to Dubai to oversee her signature restaurant, Asha's. At home, over vegetarian fare on a recent Monday, she conducted herself with amazing grace. Despite the volley of personal questions, she remained unruffled. A few days later, at Mumbai photographer Atul Kasbekar's studio, she gave us a glimpse of the Monica, my darling magic. "Lights, camera, action," said Kasbekar. Without missing a beat, the elegant septuagenarian, with her flying hair and sari blazing with rhinestones, morphed into a diva, sex appeal personified. At our spontaneous applause, she broke into Ek hasina thi from Karz, flashing the 1,000-watt smile that makes her the darling of several generations. "This is a new Ashatai," said stylist Mickey Contractor. "I have never seen her with her hair open, displaying so much attitude."
Her chutzpah is visible in our pictures, and her responses.

Tina:
Six decades in music, and you also chose to start a restaurant in Dubai. It's been an exciting innings.
Asha:
My life has been a struggle. My husband earned only Rs 100 a month. I used to walk everywhere, sometimes travel by train. But the abiding theme of my life has been my family; my children had to have the best. My husband was very orthodox. To live in such a household and still be a part of filmdom was a trapeze act. But I was determined to rise above it.

I have been cooking since 10 - cooking is in my blood. But I could not devote much time to it. Later, as the children grew, I began cooking again. Whenever we ate outside, I would ask for recipes. The children told me to write a cookery book, but that never materialized. They my son Anand came up with the idea of a restaurant. I used to cook for guests like Daboo (Randhir Kapoor) and Chintu (Rishi Kapoor) - they love my food. There was always this ghar ka khana (home food) mood, and that's what we've achieved at the restaurant. I found a Brahmin boy from Pune, taught him style of cooking and then sent him to Dubai.


What's on the menu? There is a distinct Maharashtrian influence in the vegetarian cooking. When I cook rice with brinjals, the masala is different. I make tomato chutney in the Bengali style. The chana dal is cooked exactly like my mother's. The aloo sabzi is in Haridwar style. And from Majrooh (Sultanpuri) saab's begum, I learnt biryanis, kababs, and the Lucknowi style of cooking.

Are there more outlets on the anvil?

After another outlet, in Kuwait, I want to open them across the Middle East and, hopefully, one in Mumbai.


Can someone really do anything they are passionate about, irrespective of age?
Yes! I have been learning the guitar for the past two years. During a show in the US, I picked up the guitar and everyone started clapping! At the age of 14, I started singing for films. My formal training was in Marathi. Once I got into filmdom, there was no need to learn English - till one fine day my son told me I had to go to London to sing an English number! I asked him how I would manage. He said, " The way you sing Tamil Songs." So I picked up an English' listen and learn' book with a cassette. I studied it for two months. When I reached London, my son and his wife left me with a bunch of English folks. Slowly, I began to speak and sing in English. If you are determined, you can do anything, at any age.


In your early days, did you feel uncomfortable doing oomph numbers?
Everyone was a hypocrite in those days; they liked those numbers but said they didn't. When the lyrics were not in good taste, I would feel uncomfortable. But I was never uncomfortable with new tunes. A song is a song. If I sing a tawaif (courtesan) number, it doesn't mean I become one. But the same people who criticized me in those days now say I sing good numbers. The people who liked my music were too young at the time to buy my records. Today, they've grown up and I am still singing for them.

You've always been forward looking...

My mother used to say that a human being should not be like a frog in a well. The world is a vast place. This is what I remind myself.


You chose to move on from your first marriage.

I did not move on from that relationship. I was removed from it.

Your husband did not approve of you singing for films?
Singing in films was okay, but he was suspicious. He threw me out.


But that didn't stop you from carrying on singing.
I have not studied so I couldn't be a writer; I am not beautiful, so I couldn't bean actress. I only wanted to sing and raise my kids well. All my pain disappears when I'm in front of the mike. I can sing anything. I can't be choosy and say' I won't sing a cabaret number'. Music is my favorite companion; it never lets me down.

Tell us about your relationship with Pancham (R D Burman).

My association with him went back a long way. We met during Amaan, for which Dada (S D Burman) was scoring the music; Pancham was assisting him. Gradually, he began composing himself. I saw Pancham as an assistant; there was no equality. But music was his life. His goal was to find the right singer. Initially, our relationship was only work-related. We would be up till 5 am listening to world music. We cooked together. We watched films together and he would drag me to football matches. He used to say, "Lataji is like Bradman, a good batsman, while you are like Sobers, an all-rounder who can do anything." His favorite singers were me, Kishore da and Lata didi.

Tell us how you came to sing with Boy George. Did you use his makeup or did he use yours!

When I first met Boy George in London, I thought he was a pretty girl till I observed him closely! Later, at the Taboo Club, he hugged me and told me he was a great fan of mine. When he came down to India, I took him around Mumbai. Then, we sang Bow down mister together. Initially, I was a bit uncomfortable but later realized it was the same as working with any musician. Of course, he would take an hour to do his makeup. He did his eyebrows so well; he'd put any woman to shame! Anyway, western musicians are very clever. At a recording one day, someone said, "C'mon baby." I told them I wasn't a baby;" Call me aunty." They didn't. So I told them to call me Asha!

And now you are remixing numbers.

I kept on changing with the times. There was a time when ghazals were very popular. But when the fad faded, the singers were out to work. I thought, baap re, if I only sang in a certain style, I'd be gone too.

Are the reports of sibling rivalry between you and Lata didi exaggerated?

The rivalry us professional; I just see it as healthy competition. I am four years younger than didi and she is an introvert. I am always deeply appreciative of her in public while she is more held back, though she does acknowledge me privately. I have sung more than 13,000 songs, more than anyone else has.
"She's still 16 at heart," A R Rahman says about you. How do you retain your zest for life?Rahman makes me sing 'young' numbers, like Rangeela re. When I sing, I feel the body movement. Only when you play the character does the song emerge. For instance, when I sang for Helen, I would see her face and visualize her movements. In those days, the artists would meet up with the singers. Now if sing for Kareena (Kapoor), I have to imagine what she would be doing. For umrao jaan, I really had to get into the character.

"She's still 16 at heart," A R Rahman says about you. How do you retain your zest for life?

Rahman makes me sing 'young' numbers, like Rangeela re. When I sing, I feel the body movement. Only when you play the character does the song emerge. For instance, when I sang for Helen, I would see her face and visualise her movements. In those days, the artists would meet up with the singers. Now if sing for Kareena (Kapoor), I have to imagine what she would be doing. For Umrao Jaan, I really had to get into the character.

What do you feel about singers like Madonna?

Many years ago in London, I was referred to as Madonna in a sari! I like the way she constantly changes her persona. Artists must keep reinventing themselves. Whenever I go on stage, my hairstyle, kadas (bangles) and sari are appreciated. I also started the trend of wearing a coat over my sari.

How do you gear up for a show?

I plan my wardrobe depending on where the show is to be held. I prefer white saris, and pearls rather than diamonds. One day, I saw a magic show and thought of introducing it in my stage shows. I can make handkerchiefs disappear, make burnt cigarettes appear. I managed to learn some sleight of hand.

You have five grandchildren. What do you think about being a homemaker and a career woman?

I have always been house-proud. I go for recordings around 11 am and then I am on the phone drafting instructions. No one disturbs me when I am singing, but after that there are things to be done, planning the menu at home, everyday stuff.

How do you keep fit? Do you meditate?

I exercise; basically, hand and leg exercise. But there is no timed, no solitude to meditate.

What else is new on your plate?

I do sing film songs but my son helps me a lot in working on the music, especially for shows. I don't want to change the songs but only the music. The other day, I saw a remix of my song Chad do aanchal zamana kya kahega. There were these girls in pant shirts with no aanchal in sight!

Nowadays, people are changing songs too much. I am working on a pure classical album; there is also a ghazals album with old ghazals and modern treatment. I am leaving for the US soon where a group of classical musicians will be singing my songs.

Do you identify more with today's generation or your own?

I relate more to the younger generation. When I am at a party, the youngsters feel. ' Oh God, abhi namaskar karna hoga!' (We'll have to pay our respects to her now.) But when I am singing, it is for them. I am one with them.

What is your message for the Indian woman?

The woman makes the world go round; she is shakti. A woman must be aware of this inner strength; no man will be able to beat or dishonor her then. We women should stop making a tamasha of everything; we should stop bickering and backbiting. Only if we can keep our homes intact will others respect us. I know no one will listen to my bhashan (speech). But I still have to say it!