Saturday, August 17, 2013
ASHA
BHOSLE (born September 8, 1933), commonly referred to as Ashaji,
is an Indian singer. She is best known as a playback singer in Hindi
cinema, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle's
career started in 1943 and has spanned over six decades. She has done playback
singing for over a thousand Bollywood movies. In addition, she has recorded
several private albums and participated in numerous solo concerts in India and
abroad.Bhosle is the sister of playback singer Lata Mangeshkar.
Renowned for her voice range and often credited for her
versatility, Bhosle's work includes film music, pop, ghazals,bhajans,
traditional Indian classical music, folk songs, qawwalis,
and Rabindra Sangeets. Apart from Hindi, she has sung in over 20
Indian and foreign languages. In 2006, Asha Bhosle stated that she had
sung over 12,000 songs, a figure repeated by several other
sources. The World Records Academy, an international organization which
certifies world records, recognised her as the "Most Recorded Artist"
in the world, in September 2009. In 2011 she was officially acknowledged
by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most recorded
artist in music history.The Government of India honoured her with
the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan in
2008. In 2013, she made her debut as an actress in the film Mai,
and received critical acclaim for her performance.
Asha Bhosle was born in the small hamlet of Goar in Sangli, Bombay
Presidency (now in Maharashtra), into the musical family of
Master Deenanath Mangeshkar, who belongs to Gomantak Maratha Samaj.
Her father was a theater actor and classical singer. When she was
nine years old, her father died. The family moved from Pune to Kolhapur and
then to Mumbai. She and her elder sister Lata Mangeshkar began singing
and acting in films to support their family. She sang her first film song
'"Chala Chala Nav Bala" for the Marathi film Majha Bal (1943).
The music for the film was composed by Datta Davjekar. She made her Hindi
film debut when she sang the song "Saawan Aaya" for Hansraj Behl's Chunariya (1948). Her
first solo Hindi film song was for the movie Raat Ki Raani (1949).
At the age of 16, she eloped with 31-year-old Ganpatrao Bhosle,
marrying him against her family's wishes. Ganpatrao was Lata's personal
secretary. The marriage failed miserably. Her husband and in-laws mistreated
her. After a few years of marriage, Asha was turned out (around 1960) by a
suspicious Ganpatrao and she went to her maternal home with two children
and pregnant with her third child. She continued to sing in films to earn
money.
At that time, prominent playback singers like Geeta Dutt, Shamshad
Begum and Lata Mangeshkar dominated the singing for the female
lead and the big films. Asha used to get the assignments they refused: singing
for the bad girls and vamps, or songs in the second-grade movies. In the
1950s, she sang more songs than most playback singers in Bollywood (not
counting Lata). Most of these were in low budget B or C-grade films.
Her earliest songs were composed by A R Qureshi, Sajjad Hussain and Ghulam
Mohammed, and most of these songs failed to do well. Singing in Sangdil (1952),
composed by Sajjad Hussain, she got reasonable recognition. Consequently, film
directorBimal Roy gave her a chance to sing in Parineeta (1953). Raj
Kapoor signed her to sing "Nanhe Munne Bachche" with Mohammed
Rafi in Boot Polish (1954), which gained popularity.
O. P. Nayyar gave Asha a break in C.I.D. (1956).
She first achieved success in B. R. Chopra's Naya Daur (1957),
composed by him. Her duets with Rafi like "Maang Ke Saath
Tumhara", "Saathi Haath Badhana" and "Uden Jab Jab Zulfein
Teri", penned by Sahir Ludhianvi, earned her recognition. It was the
first time she sang all the songs for a film's leading actress. Chopra
approached her for several of his later productions, including Gumrah (1963), Waqt (1965), Hamraaz (1965), Aadmi
Aur Insaan (1966) and Dhund(1973). Nayyar's future
collaboration with Bhosle also resulted in success. Gradually, she established
her status and received the patronage of such composers as Sachin Dev
Burman and Ravi. Bhosle and Nayyar had a professional and personal
parting of ways in the 1970s.
In 1966, Bhosle's performances in the duets from one of music director R.D.
Burman's first soundtracks, for the movie Teesri Manzil, won
popular acclaim. Reportdly, when she first heard the dance number "Aaja
Aaja", she felt she would not be able to sing this westernised tune. While
Burman offered to change the music, she refused, taking it as a challenge. She
completed the song after ten days of rehearsals, and "Aaja Aaja",
along with such other songs as "O Haseena Zulfonwali" and "O
Mere Sona Re" (all three duets with Rafi), became successful. Shammi
Kapoor, the film's leading actor, was once quoted as saying– "If I did not
have Mohammad Rafi to sing for me, I would have got Asha Bhosle to do the
job". Bhosle's collaboration with Burman resulted in numerous hits and a
marriage. During the 1960-70s, she was the voice of Bollywood's actress and
dancer, Helen, on whom "O Haseena Zulfon Wali" was picturised.
It is said that Helen would attend her recording sessions so that she could
understand the song better and plan dance steps accordingly. Some of their
other popular numbers include "Piya Tu Ab To Aaja" (Caravan)
and "Yeh Mera Dil" (Don), among others.
By the 1980s, Bhosle, although highly regarded for her
abilities and versatility, had sometimes been stereotyped as a
"cabaret singer" and a "pop crooner". In 1981 she attempted
a different genre by singing several ghazals for the Rekha-starrer Umrao
Jaan, including "Dil Cheez Kya Hai", "In Aankhon Ki Masti
Ke", "Yeh Kya Jagah Hai Doston" and "Justaju Jiski
Thi". The film's music director Khayyam, had lowered her pitch by
half a note. Bhosle herself expressed surprise that she could sing so
differently. The ghazals won her the first National Film Award of her
career. A few years later, she won another National Award for the song "Mera
Kuchh Saamaan" fromIjaazat (1987).
In 1995, 62-year-old Bhosle sang for actress Urmila Matondkar in
the movie Rangeela. The soundtrack featured songs like "Tanha
Tanha" and "Rangeela Re" sung by her, and composed by music
director A. R. Rahman, who would go on to record several songs with her.
During the 2000s, several of Bhosle's numbers became chartbusters, including
"Radha Kaise Na Jale" from Lagaan (2001),
"Kambakht Ishq" from Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya (2001),
"Yeh Lamha" from Filhaal (2002), "Lucky
Lips" from Lucky (2005). In October 2004, The
Very Best of Asha Bhosle, The Queen of Bollywood, a compilation album of
songs recorded by Bhosle for albums and Bollywood films that were released
between 1966 and 2003, was released.
In 2013, Bhosle debuted in the film Mai in the
title role, at the age of 79. Bhosle played the role of a 65-year-old mother
who suffers from Alzheimer's disease and is abandoned by her
children.She received positive reviews for her acting as well from critics.
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