About Asha

Illustration/Uday Mohite

Dubbing is hard. Actors have to "remember" the emotion they'd conveyed during shooting, and reproduce it in a studio. Playback singing is harder, there's a two way process, two artistes involved. The actor/actress, mouthing lines of a song, lip syncing the words, during the filming. The singer then has to sing the lines plus add the required emotion that he/she felt the actor/actress would in a song.

Asha Bhosle, took the art of playback singing to another level. She had the clarity and technique to get the essence of the song nailed down, but she also "emoted the part", getting to the heart of the actress' motivations, she "acted" the lyrics, she lent soul to the melody. In her playback performance, she could shift between sexy, and sultry, she could be playful, she was pouty. She had mischief, she was fun, she sought to break free of boundaries. Helen felt she added "oomph" to her dancing, helping her to get the moniker "Queen of Cabaret". Zeenat Aman said, "she gifted me the soundtrack to my success", meaning Dum Maro Dum from Hare Krishna Hare Ram and Chura liya from Yaadon Ki Baraat. Mumtaz, Asha Parekh, and Rekha all felt she got to the heart of their character in the songs she sang for them.

Back in the 60s and 70s, singers often ‘made' the stars (Kishore Kumar's singing helped elevate Rajesh Khanna to his superstar status).

In the late 70s, I became friends with Yogesh (Yogi) Khadikar, Asha Bhosle's nephew. We'd take the BEST bus from St Xavier's to our respective homes on Pedder Road. Occasionally I'd have lunch with him at Prabhu Kunj, where the sisters stayed. Asha would be doing her "riyaz" behind a closed studio door. I was amazed at how deep and low she could go, compared to the "highness" we were used to. Yogi told me, sometimes the black landline phone would ring, and the servant told her it was Kishore saab - the two legends would then proceed to sing to each other across landlines. The Asha Bhonsle- Kishore Kumar duets - the throwaway skill they both had, the humour - and RD Burman who brought them together. RD Burman regarded Asha as his partner and muse. He felt her virtuosity and versatility went way beyond mere playback singing norms. He encouraged her to embrace jazz, cabaret and rock. There seemed to be an aspect in her that wanted to cross boundaries, that yearned to morph her craft across genres. The Asha-Puncham alliance went way beyond the music - it resulted in a marriage, she being 6 years older, 46 to his 40.

Asha had many foreign collaborations in her glittering career. There was Culture Club and Boy George with Bow Down Mister in 1991, which fused an East-West musical blend. In 1997, she collaborated with the boy band Code Red on a romantic ballad, We Can Make It. In 2002, she teamed up with Michael Stipe of the American band REM for a global project called 1 Giant Leap. In a totally unexpected crossover between the Hindi film music industry and cricket, Asha was joined by Australian fast bowler Brett Lee on a song titled You're The One For Me. And finally her last collaboration in her 90s, was Shadowy Light with the popular alternative band Gorillaz in 2026. I'm always attracted to artistes that never get outdated - men and women who are timeless in their approach, outlook and abilities - much younger producers, sound engineers, and bands recognise these aesthetics. AR Rahman for example, wrote songs for her in many movies. The fact that she had resonance across genres, across generations, across decades, Gen Z enjoyed her.

Also her restlessness could not to be slotted, her collaborations, and compositions were timeless.

Asha Bhosle seemed to carry a quietness about her, to dovetail with the quirkiness; dare I say that she exuded a certain solitude, to go with the social acclaim. The tragedy in her life meshed with the triumphs. Asha Bhosle was a jewel in the crown of Hindi cinema. She was truly the Canary of India to her sister Lata's Nightingale. Good night and rest well, Asha Tai.

Rahul daCunha is an adman, theatre director/playwright, filmmaker and traveller. Reach him at rahul.dacunha@mid-day.com