ASHA BHOSLE

Biography : Asha Bhosle or Ashaji as she is fondly called is the most versatile singer in Bollywood. In a career that spans over six decades she has sung thousands of songs. She is recognised by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most recorded artist. She has sung songs in 20 languages, both Indian and foreign. Her work includes classical songs, bhajans, qawwalis, pop, ghazals, folk and Rabindra sangeet apart from Bollywood music. She belongs to the illustrious Mangeshkar family and Lata Mangeshkar is her elder sister. Like her sister, she started singing and acting in Marathi movies to support her family. At the age of 16 she eloped with Lata’s secretary Ganpatrao Bhosle. Their marriage failed and she was left with two children and expecting a third one. She started singing again to support herself. But she mostly got B-grade films or songs for vamps. Her first recognition came Bimal Roy’s Parineeta. Thereafter she Raj Kapoor signed her for Boot Polish. It was BR Chopra’s Naya Daur that got her recognition. Music composer O P Nayyar worked with her for many films like C.I.D., Gumrah, Waqt, Hamraaz, Aadmi aur insaan and Dhund. Asha finally tasted success. She along with R D Burman brought in a change in Bollywood music. The songs and music of Teesri Manzil revolutionised Indian film music. Asha became the voice for vamp and dancer Helen, singing most of her dance numbers. In the 80s, Asha showed her versatility by singing all the ghazals in Umrao Jaan. Another of her famous number is Mera kuch saamaan from Ijaazat. She created waves when she sang for Urmila Matondkar in Rangeela. She continued to give chartbusting songs even in the 2000s. She also has pop albums to her credit. Her rivalry with sister Lata was often in the news but both sisters deny it. She did her acting debut in the Marathi film Mai, which got critical acclaim. She has won numerous awards, noteworthy amongst them are the Dadasaheb Phalke Award and the Padma Bhushan.