Asha Bhosle's gift of lineage

Some untold aspects of the singing legend.

- A. C. Tuli

About a learned person, or a singer gifted with a melodious voice, it is often said that he or she has been blessed by the goddess Saraswati. But it is not just an individual on whom goddess Saraswati showers her blessings; sometimes the deity’s generosity extends to a whole family.

Master Deenanath Mangeshkar, head of the Mangeshkar clan, was a well-known Marathi stage actor and classical singer of his time. Following into their father’s footsteps, the Mangeshkar sisters – Lata, Meena, Asha and Usha – were also devoted to music from their childhood days. Lata, the eldest daughter, was of course the first among them who took to playback singing when she was still in her teens. A little later, her younger sister Asha also joined her.

Asha Bhosle, who recently celebrated her 83rd birthday, recorded her first Hindi song, Saawan aaya… under music composer Hansraj Behl’s direction for the film Chunariya in 1948. Her first solo song in Hindi was for the film Raat Ki Raani (1949), whose music director was also Hansraj Behl.

Asha’s life took a sudden turn when, at the age of 16, she eloped with Ganpatrao Bhosle, who was some fifteen years older than her. She married him much against her family’s wishes. But the marriage was not successful. The couple separated in 1960 when Asha was mother of two kids and pregnant with a third child. For a while she lived with her maternal uncle, but the harsh realities of life soon compelled her to fend for herself and her family as best she could.

While her sister Lata’s rise as playback singer was almost meteoric after a few initial hitches, Asha, inspite of her best efforts, was not finding a toehold in the film industry. Till 1956, she had sung many songs for films under music directors such as Sajjad Hussain, Ghulam Mohammad, A. R. Quereshi, Hansraj Behl and a few others of that time.