Asha Bhosle - a vocalist with a difference

The Superstar of Indian film industry Asha Bhosle cut her 74th birthday cake on September 9, 2007 in the presence of her offspring and grandchildren at a function held in her Mumbai residence.
The celebration was restricted only to members of her family. Six year ago, the renowned playback singer of Indian silver screen celebrated the receipt of India's most prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke Award, named after an Indian producer and director considered the pioneer of cinematic arts in the Sub-continent. Her Didi, Lata Mangeshkar also received the same award a few years earlier. Asha Bhosle won this coveted award after reportedly recording over 10,0000 songs in various languages, but mostly for the Hindi (Urdu) films produced from Mumbai studios.
Both the sisters ruled the roost at Bollywood for several decades and remained in much demand. Producers and composers of Indian cinema used to fell over each other in signing either of the two sisters for recording songs in their films during the decades of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. If Lata can be called the nightingale of India, Asha indeed is a cuckoo.
History of Sub-continental cinema is replete with many examples, which points to more than one member of the same family winning wide popularity at the same time. In the domain of classical music during the first half of the 20th century Chajju Khan-Nazir Khan and Dagar Brothers (in India), Amanat Ali Khan-Fateh Ali Khan and NaZakat Ali Khan-Salamat Ali Khan (in Pakistan), were held in high public esteem due to their mellifluous renditions of classical songs. Similarly, two real brothers from Kasur, Ustad Bade Ghulam Ali Khan and Barkat Ali Khan, who had settled in Lahore, were applauded through the length and breadth of the Sub-continent for their expertise in singing ragas, and thumris, ghazals and geets, respectively.
However, it is well-nigh impossible to cite an example, except for the two daughters of Dina Nath Mangesker, when more than one member of the same family almost simultaneously reached the top of the popularity chart for recording film songs. They have dominated Indian film music for well over four decades now. Their repertoires include classical compositions, thumris, ghazals, geets, bhajjans, naats and pop songs. Asha Bhosle also has to her credit a number of cassettes containing non-film ghazals, which were acclaimed by music buffs with equal enthusiasm.
Of the four Mangeshkar sisters, Lata and Asha elbowed almost every female playback singer out from showbiz soon after making their debuts. Those who were pushed aside by the sheer force of their captivating melodies included the well-established Shamshad Begum, Amirbai Karnatki, Mubarak Begum, Kamal Barod, Suman Kalyanpore and Zohrabai Ambalewali.
In addition to four Mangeshkar sisters, their brother Hirdaynath also showed opulent talent for music, and this made quintet in a family of singers. Sisters Usha and Meena remained in showbiz only for brief periods as they did not make much of an impression on composers of film music. For a long time the Lata and Asha have been the most sought after voices for the composers as their association with films ensured their success at the box office. Late Khawaja Khurshid Anwar, the ace composer of Pakistan, who used Asha's vocals for one of his films in Bombay, was all praise for Asha Bhosle.
"Whether one prefers the purity and ethereal tone of Lata or the smooth, sensuous allure of Asha Bhosle", wrote an Indian music journalist "is a matter of personal taste and choice. Their legacy comes from their gifted father, the late Dinanath Mangeshkar".
In recent years, especially after the undeclared retirement of Lata, much of the singing for Indian female screen stars was done by Asha Bhosle. Her voice, unlike that of Lata, is suited for all kinds of songs, haunting, melodic, melancholic, playful, emotional, folk, devotional and even pop. Rightly, therefore, she is now considered the foremost exponent of contemporary film songs in India. A vocalist with a difference, her renditions combine earthiness with divinity and sensuality with piety. Her voice fills the listeners both with erotomania as well as melancholia, alternatively.
Asha is better known in India now than her older sister Lata Mangeshkar because of her frequent appearances on Indian television and commercial stage. For her, singing feelingly the compositions of frontline composers is an article of faith. "When I sing a love song, I am in love", she once said in an interview with an American magazine. "When I sing a dance song, I feel that I am dancing inside. When I sing an old woman's lullaby, I feel that I am singing for a child, and when I am singing like a 16-year old heroine, I feel that I am 16 years old. Otherwise, I can't sing", she said while explaining her talent and effusive proclivity for music. These are the attributes of a great gifted artiste.
Septuagenarian Asha Bhosle has retained all these attributes of her voice and talent and has not allowed advancing age to get the better of her voice. Film songs recorded in her voice this or previous years sound as enchanting and absorbing as her songs recorded half a century ago. In recent years despite the fact that a number of young artistes have joined the ranks of playback singers, no one has yet come near the competence and versatility of Asha Bhosle.