Legendary playback singer Asha Bhosle passed away in Mumbai on Sunday at the age of 92, marking the end of an era in Indian music. She passed away at Breach Candy Hospital, where she had been admitted on Saturday evening following extreme exhaustion and a chest infection. The singer’s cremation will be held at Shivaji Park on Monday at 4 pm. Her son Anand has requested fans not to crowd the venue. Anand Bhosle makes an appeal to fans Speaking to the media on Sunday night, Anand Bhosle said that people can come for the last darshan of his mother at her residence in Lower Parel. He also urged fans not to crowd the funeral site at Shivaji Park on Monday evening. “Tomorrow, from 10:30 am to 2 pm, people can come and take the last darshan of my mother at the Casa Grande building. At 4 pm, her last rites will be performed at the crematorium. I request people not to gather there, as there are chances of overcrowding,” Anand Bhosle said in Hindi. BMC and Mumbai Police to arrange funeral Crowd-control measures by the authorities will ensure that visitors who want to pay homage to the singer can do so smoothly. If required, separate access corridors will be created for the public, VIPs, and family members. Vinayak Vispute, Assistant Commissioner of the G North ward, confirmed that the last rites will be held at the Shivaji Park crematorium. Meanwhile, in a statement to mid-day on Sunday evening, a BMC official said, “The civic administration has recent references of the preparations required for the last rites of Lata Mangeshkar and Ratan Tata in terms of on-ground implementation and coordination to manage large crowds. The BMC is coordinating with the police to ensure law and order.” Regular and traffic police will facilitate diversions. Civic services in the area will remain unaffected, though a large crowd is anticipated for the funeral. Born in 1933, Asha Bhosle began her musical journey at a young age and rose to prominence in the 1950s. Over a career spanning decades, she recorded thousands of songs across multiple Indian languages, ranging from classical and ghazals to cabaret, pop, and folk.
13 April,2026 10:41 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondentThe Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Mumbai Police are making preparations for the funeral of Asha Bhosle, which is to take place at the Shivaji Park crematorium in Dadar West at 4 pm on Monday. Crowd-control measures by the authorities will ensure visitors who want to pay homage to the singer can do so. If required, separate access corridors will be made for the public and for VIPs and family members. Vinayak Vispute, assistant commissioner of the G North ward, confirmed that the last rites will be held at the Shivaji Park crematorium. Meanwhile, in a statement to mid-day on Sunday evening, a BMC official said, “The civic administration has recent references of the preparations that were required for the last rites of Lata Mangeshkar and Ratan Tata, in terms of on-ground implementation and coordination required to facilitate a large influx of crowd. The BMC is coordinating with the police to ensure law and order preparations, also.” The late singer’s mortal remains arrive at her residence, Casa Grand, in Lower Parel, Mumbai, around 4.45 pm. Pic/Shadab Khan Final respects At Bhosle’s residence in Lower Parel, where her mortal remains were brought on Sunday evening for loved ones to pay their respects, locals gathered in quiet remembrance. Jagdeesh Chaurasiya, a pan stall owner nearby, said, “I listen to her songs day in and day out. The mark she has left is not a small one. The whole of the country will remember her for all the memories she has given us.”Inputs by Madhulika Ram Kavattur 4PMTime funeral will be held today Preparations underway . Regular and traffic police will facilitate traffic diversions. Civic services in the area will remain unhampered though a large crowd is anticipated for the funeral Road closures . Swatantryaveer Savarkar Road will have restricted traffic access. Lady Jamshedji Road, the arterial road connecting Dadar and Mahim, will have monitored traffic influx Parking facilities . Kohinoor Plaza public parking lot. All on-street parking in the area is restricted. Residents of buildings in the area will be allowed to retain their parking spaces, but no new access or entry will be allowed Call for details . BMC helpline: 1916. Government of Maharashtra helpline: 1070 Residents’ access . Morning and late-night walkers will be able to access the area of the Shivaji Park precinct as usual
13 April,2026 09:02 AM IST | Mumbai | Eshanpriya MSAs India mourned the passing of Asha Bhosle, some of the most heartfelt tributes came from those who knew her away from the spotlight — her household staff and close aides. The iconic playback singer passed away at Breach Candy Hospital on Sunday, leaving behind not just a rich musical legacy, but also memories of kindness. ‘Gave me respect’ Sunam Salve, who worked at Bhosle’s residence for over four decades, remembered her as a compassionate employer. “She always treated me with respect. For someone like me, who comes from a poor background, that meant everything. I was very worried when I heard she was hospitalised. I came to know about her passing on Sunday morning, and it is deeply painful. She even visited my village once, and refused me leave,” Salve said. Words fall short Pushpa Navar, who had worked with Lata Mangeshkar and stayed with the family, said the loss was beyond words. “Asha-didi was very kind. I have no words to express this loss. The family always treated me like one of their own,” Navar said. A family to be proud of A yoga teacher associated with the family said she was “speechless” at the news. “I would often visit their home — we shared conversations like a family. Her [Asha’s] nature was extremely warm,” she said on condition of anonymity.
13 April,2026 08:57 AM IST | Mumbai | Abhitash SinghIt is telling how in death, it is not the superstar achievements, or awards and titles, that stand out but the little moments of kindness and humanity that one leaves behind. In June 2024, the Dinanath Mangeshkar Natyagruha, in Vile Parle East, played host to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat releasing a book called Swarswamini Asha on the late singer Padma Vibhushan and Maharashtra Bhushan Asha Bhosle. The Marathi book was a collection of pieces by 90 writers, including Sachin Tendulkar, Uddhav Thackeray, Kiran Shantaram, Ameen Sayani, Sushilkumar Shinde, and Anuradha Paudwal, complemented by photographs capturing Asha Bhosle’s essence. 2024Year ‘Swarswamini Asha’ was launched ‘She’d cart me around’ At the event, the most moving address came from Asha Bhosle’s brother, music director Pandit Hridaynath Mangeshkar, who was on the dais and detailed one of those sacrifices. He recalled not her songs or her huge roster of achievements. The sibling recalled a childhood together. He said, “She [Asha Bhosle] was eight years old; I was a little child then. She would cart me around on her hip. I am so indebted to her... she has cared for me just like a mother, or even more so…” he said as ‘Ashatai’s’ tears flowed on the dais. Today, we have no doubt that her brother has many more memories of a mother like no other. Humour ’n’ melody Asha Bhosle made her audience laugh on the occasion as she recalled visiting hugely successful, talented make-up artist Mickey Contractor on one occasion. It was the first time that she was putting on make-up. She said, “In the middle of the session, I said, ‘What is all this? Remove the makeup’. Contractor said: ‘Wait till it is done’. He did something to my hair, too. Then he gave me a mirror. I asked: Who is this in the mirror? I looked so beautiful, I could not recognise myself.” Tweets Chief Minister: Devendra Fadnavis @Dev_FadnavisI am stunned by the news of the passing of Ashatai Bhosle. Today is an extremely sorrowful moment for music lovers across the world. As a versatile artiste, Ashatai left an indelible mark in every genre from classical to pop and rock, and by singing over 12,000 songs in over 20 languages, she elevated music to new heights. Her departure from our midst is an irreparable loss. The melody has fallen silent, but its echo will remain immortal in our memories…Deeply saddened by the demise of legendary singer and one of the foremost voices of Indian Music, Padma Vibhushan and Maharashtra Bhushan Ashatai Bhosle. She was one of the versatile voices that… pic.twitter.com/PXKnWOEf33 — Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) April 12, 2026 Deputy CM: Eknath Shinde @mieknathshindeA divine voice that drenched the hearts of the past four generations, and that brought joy to countless souls has fallen silent. Not a single day has dawned in the past many decades where Ashatai’s voice hasn’t graced our ears. It is hard to digest the realisation that Ashatai is no longer with us. Mayor: Ritu Tawde @TawdeRituThe news is utterly heartbreaking. In an era when it was difficult for women to step outside the home and carve out their identity, Ashatai made her mark on the global stage. For over six decades, she enchanted the entire nation with her melodious and soulful singing. Today, her departure has created a profound void in the Indian music world.
13 April,2026 08:52 AM IST | Mumbai | Hemal AsharMy first encounter was with Ashatai over three-and-a -half decades ago as a rookie journalist, when she was recording for a Marathi song at a suburban recording studio. When the film’s director realised that I was a journalist, he was perturbed because he thought that I would leak the music of the film, and Tai promptly put her arm around me and said, “To lahan mula aahe. Tu tyachyaavar sanshay kasa gheu shakto?” The late Asha Bhosle captured here in the kitchen of her South Mumbai residence, after receiving the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2000. Pic/Rane Ashish And her arm continued to be around me when I directed several music videos with her. Starting with the Aap Ke Dil Mein song with Sanjay Dutt as part of the Asha & Friends album. She would often make fun of me and mimic me pulling up my trousers during the shoot, as I had lost weight by then. She was a terrific mimic, and she even imitated the legendary Sunil Dutt, who was like a brother to her, when she met Sanjay Dutt. 1991Year ‘Bow Down Mister’ was released Sanjay Dutt and Asha Bhosle shoot for the music video of ‘Aap Ke Dil Mein’ Sanju’s surprise In fact, how we got Sanjay Dutt to sing for her is a funny story. When we called Sanju and told him that Ashaji would like to speak to him, Sanju thought it was actress Asha Parekh calling him to attend a Cine Artists Association meeting. When he realised it was Asha Bhosle wanting to sing with him, he almost fell off his chair. Later at the recording, she narrated how she had even sung with Sunil Dutt once and put Sanju at ease. She did the same with Urmila Matondkar as well, telling her to calm down and just sing. A field of her own That’s the reason why she took on breezy numbers with OP Nayyar, the rocking ones with RD Burman and went on to collaborate a lot with international artistes from Boy George for Bow Down Mister in 1991, Kronos Quartet for You’ve Stolen My Heart, Michael Stipe for The Way You Dream, Code Red for We Can Make It, and finally with Gorillaz for The Shadowy Light in 2026. Damon Albarn of Gorillaz was a fan of her psychedelic work with Panchamda in the 1970s, and was amazed at her ability to reproduce the same magic at the age of 92. With Urmila Matondkar at Mukesh Mills in Colaba Culinary prowess Once we had a 6 am call time for a music video shoot of hers with Urmila Matondkar at Mukesh Mills, Colaba, and she was there at 5.30 am, all cheery and perked up, gobbling up the breakfast she carried from home, also bringing extra for all those working on the shoot. No wonder she had everyone, from Tom Cruise to Amitabh Bachchan, to British boxer Amir Khan, eating out of her hands, be it in the music domain or at her global restaurants. She cooked so well, like her sister, the late Lata Mangeshkar. I have had the fortune of being fed by them and listening to her fun comments on not being able to taste their best dishes, as I am a vegetarian. Iconic duet Interestingly, when we were set to sing and shoot a collaborative song with Brett Lee, the Aussie pacer was a bit apprehensive. “My wife is delivering a baby, and I don’t want to be linked to a lady.” Then we showed him Ashtai’s picture and body of work and explained that she was 72 and 43 years older than Brett, who was 29 then. So Brett came in and recorded, and later, when he came to the shoot, she told him, “If you get a son, call him Sachin!” not after Sachin Dev Burman, but her favourite cricketer and Brett’s bête noire, Sachin Tendulkar. Asha Bhosle offers her blessings to then up and coming cricketer Mali Richards, the son of West Indies cricketing great Sir Viv Richards, at the CCI in 2005. PIC/Santosh Harhare, mid-day archives What sibling rivalry? The legend once spoke to me about the so-called rivalry that the entire industry and fans felt existed between her and her legendary sister. “We sang 80 songs together. How can she be a competitor? She was already a star when I started. How can one have two Taj Mahals? So, I had to pick a niche for myself. In fact, Geeta Dutt was a competitor. I was just her younger sister,” she said. A perfect symmetry Incidentally, both sisters passed away at the age of 92 and died four years apart, as their age difference was four years. And both died on a Sunday at the Breach Candy hospital. It is as if fate itself aligned to a perfect symmetry, leaving fans in silence and to play their swansongs — that only their melodies can fill.
13 April,2026 08:42 AM IST | Mumbai | S RamachandranAshaji’s demise is not merely a national loss. For me, it is a silence that echoes too closely. Each time she sang, something unseen was summoned — an alchemy of sur and soul that refused to belong to time. When I approached her for Umrao Jaan (1981), with Khayyam shaping the music and Shahryar giving it language, to inhabit the world of Rekha, she sensed immediately that this was not a recording — it was a reckoning. She understood that she would have to travel beyond craft. That she would have to become the voice of a civilisation that once lived in tehzeeb, in restraint, in unspoken ache. She gave Lucknow a permanence that cinema had long denied it. In an industry often without place, she created one. Muzaffar Ali. Pic/Instagram To bring her into Awadh was not direction; it was invocation. The only distant echo was Begum Akhtar. What lay before us was a shared challenge. And she met it with something that cannot be rehearsed — surrender. She yielded to the character. Such truth is rare in the architecture of commercial Hindi cinema. It is rarer still to be recognised, as it was, at the 29th National Film Awards. As told to Upala KBR
13 April,2026 08:34 AM IST | Mumbai | Muzaffar AliWhen I hear Asha Bhosle, I see Sangeet ki Maharani in my mind. I remember when I was a six year old, in my village, only two-three people had transistor radios. So, I would listen to music from a distance. Her voice had so much power that it used to pull me towards it. It remains etched in my heart and mind. At the age of 22, I came to Mumbai. I can still recall my first recording with her. It was Chawl Mein Maal Leke Aaya Hai from Gehra Zakhm (1981). The song had Ashaji, Mohammad Rafi, Anand Kumar C, and me. RD Burman had composed the music. Aamir Khan and Gracy Singh in a still from ‘Lagaan’. Pic/Youtube Then I recorded many regional songs with Ashaji. I would never believe that the Asha Bhosle was singing with me. And later, my son, Aditya, sang his first song with her, the title track of Rangeela (1995)! Ashaji wasn’t only gifted, but also did a lot of tapasya. She worked hard. She worked like a lioness, tirelessly. She was also such a jovial person. She would laugh, play and joke around. She was very spirited, in her work as well as in her personal life. She could sing any kind of song, be it classical, ghazal, devotional, comedic or romantic. I have such fond memories of recording with her. But Radha Kaise Na Jale from Lagaan (2001) is the most special. That song will never fade. She was history of Indian cinema and music fraternity. Aisa lagta hai aaj ek itihaas chala gaya. (L-R) Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. Pic/Instagram Did you know? Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle sang over 80 songs throughout their career, including ‘Main Chali Main Chali’ from ‘Padosan’ (1968), ‘Chaap Tilak Sab Chhini’ from ‘Main Tulsi Tere Aangan Ki’ (1978), and many more As told to Priyanka Sharma
13 April,2026 08:29 AM IST | Mumbai | Udit NarayanLata [Mangeshkar] bai sang for me most of the time. When Asha [Bhosle] tai would sing for me, she often joked with me. She was full of humour, and would invite me into the [recording] room with the live orchestra. It was an electric atmosphere, with over 100 artistes but she wanted to humour me. I was very young when I started work in Junglee (1961). As a result, my voice was thin. So standing behind the mic, she would point at her throat, gesturing that she is singing in a thinner voice than her usual. That would make me laugh so much. There was also a royal air to her. She conducted herself so gracefully. I still remember how she once she hosted a party for all of us. The way she spoke about Naya Daur (1957) [was so respectful]. I think the film was a big launch pad, for her. The era of Asha Bhosle began from there. Did you know? (L-R) Asha Bhosle with Zanai Upon the insistence of her grand daughter Zanai Bhosle, Asha Bhosle opened her YouTube channel in 2020. The channel, currently with 285K subscribers, is home to anecdotes shared by her about her over seven-decade long career As told to Komal RJ Panchal
13 April,2026 08:29 AM IST | Mumbai | Saira BanuWhen I think of Asha Bhosle, my mind goes straight to the four or five stalwart singers ever to be born besides her — Mohammed Rafi saab, Lata Mangeshkarji, Mukeshji, Manna Dey, and of course Kishore Kumar. These singers could put life into songs and make them immortal. They were the epitome of love. My fondest memory of Asha didi is from before she would even step up to the microphone. She would often sit by herself, quietly, and practise classical paltas at length. Nobody would really notice, as everyone would be busy with their own work. I used to quietly watch her doing that and wonder — if this was just the way she was warming up, what could be the depth of her real riyaaz. We recorded quite a few songs together, and needless to say, there are many stories to go by. But this is something I will always remember about her. As told to Priyanka Sharma
13 April,2026 08:16 AM IST | Mumbai | Rajesh RoshanFor me, Asha Bhosle was never just a voice behind the screen. She was an integral part of my performance, almost like a co-actor I could rely on completely. One memory that always stays with me is how easy it felt to step into a scene after hearing her sing. She would bring out every nuance, the expressions, the playfulness, and the emotion. It made my job so much easier. In fact, I would often feel that my performance became better because she had sung the song in such a perfect, expressive manner. I just had to follow that feeling, and it would naturally reflect on screen. I remember this song from Satte Pe Satta (1982), I couldn’t crack it until I heard her song and then I knew how to go with it. She would even call us to the studio when she was recording so we worked on the songs in tandem. Thus, the songs were so synced up. Whether it was something lively like in Seeta Aur Geeta (1972) or a more character-driven song like in Khushboo (1975), she could adapt to every mood effortlessly. That versatility is something very rare. She could sing for a young girl, for a village character, for something classical, everything with the same ease and conviction. Offstage, too, she was just as wonderful. I truly feel that artistes like her are irreplaceable. Many singers have come and will come, but there was something about Ashaji, her range, her spirit, and her energy, that cannot be compared. As told to Mohar Basu
13 April,2026 08:11 AM IST | Mumbai | Hema MaliniOne of my earliest memories of Asha Bhosle is deeply personal. I’ve always called her aatya [paternal aunt], as she shared a close bond with my Guruji, Pandit Jitendra Abhisheki, even tying him rakhi. That warmth and familial connection is how I first came to know her — not just as a legend, but as someone who felt like family. I recently experienced the person behind the icon on the sets of a reality show I was judging, where she came as the special guest. She was incredibly warm, full of life, and instantly made me feel at ease. She kept asking if I had eaten and whether I enjoyed food. When I said I did, she smiled and said, “Come, I’ll cook for you. Come to Dubai, I have a restaurant there.” There’s also something many people often overlook — is how foundational her work in Marathi music has been. Long before the scale of Hindi film music took over conversations, she, along with stalwarts like Lata Mangeshkar, built a rich and enduring legacy in Marathi. Working with composers such as Sudhir Phadke and Dasharath Pujari, she brought to life compositions that were intricate, emotive, and technically demanding. A significant part of this journey was also independent music. Many of these songs were not tied to films but were released as albums, at a time when non-film music thrived on pure musicality. In many ways, that phase laid the groundwork for what we now recognise as independent music in India. The freedom composers had, and the way Asha Tai rendered even the most complex pieces with effortless grace, made that era truly special. Pic/Rane Ashish Did you know? In 2002, Asha Bhosle opened her maiden restaurant, Asha’s, in Dubai. Later, she launched more outlets across the world, including in Bahrain and Qatar. The singer enjoyed North Indian cuisine As told to Komal RJ Panchal
13 April,2026 08:06 AM IST | Mumbai | Mahesh KaleADVERTISEMENT
