Asha Bhosle

Here you have India's one of the most talented singers and her achievements and contributions are so immense that she has earned great respect not only at home, but all over the world. She is none other than India's very own legendary singer Asha Bhosle. Her career in singing spans wide from playback singing for Hindi films, to singing for albums and concerts. She hasn't limited her singing talent for a single genre of music. She has expanded her talent in various genres such as Ghazals, film songs, Bhajans, pop music, folk songs and even Indian classical songs. Her versatility can be seen, not only in the genres, but also in the languages for her singing. She has sung in over 20 languages, both Indian as well as foreign. She even has a record in the Guinness Book Of World Records for being the "Most Recorded Artist".

Asha Bhosle was born on 8th September 1933 in Goar, a small village in the Sangli district to Deenanath Mangeshkar, who was a singer and an actor by profession. She was initially married to Ganpatrao Bhosle, but unfortunately her marriage didn't work and she came back to her maternal home. It was only in the year 1980 that she married R.D. Burman. Today she has three children, Hemant Bhosle, Varsha Bhosle and Anand Bhosle.

Her family eventually came to Mumbai after her father's death, whereby she and her sister Lata Mangeshkar entered the entertainment field by singing and acting for supporting their family. Her first song was Chala Chala Nav Bala from the 1943 Marathi film 'Majha Bal'. Her Hindi song debut came with 'Saawan Aaya' in 1948 for 'Chunariya' by Hansraj Behl. She even acted in a Hindi film named 'Raat Ki Rani' in 1949.

Initially Asha had to sing for songs pictured on vamps, something which prominent singer of the time refused to do. Her first big chance came with 'Parineeta' in 1953. Her first success came with B.R Chopra's 'Naya Daur' in 1957. After that she did playback singing for many other films such as 'Gumrah', 'Hamraaz', 'Waqt' and 'Dhund'. She also sang the popular item number in 'Yeh Mera Dil' in 'Don'. Though she was stereotyped for singing only a particular genre of songs, she opted for singing the songs in 'Umrao Jaan' in the year 1981. In 1987, she was awarded the National Award for her 'Ijaazat' song 'Mera Kuchh Saamaan'.

Then came the 90s, where she sang for the film 'Rangeela' in the year 1995. In the decade of 2000s, she contributed for playback singing of several popular songs like 'Janeman Janeman' from 'Kaho Naa... Pyaar Hai', 'Radha Kaise Na Jale' in 'Lagaan' and 'Kambakht Ishq' from the film 'Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya'. In the year 2013, she even had made her film debut with the film 'Mai', for which she was received very well by the critics.

She also had professional partnerships with various music directors such as O.P Nayyar, Kishore Kumar, S. D. Burman, Khayyam, Shankar Jaikishan, Anu Malik and A. R. Rahman. She also had her share in working for music other than Bollywood songs. She had a collaborated album with Gulzar in 1987 called 'Dil Padosi Hai'. She worked with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan on eleven 'bandishes' for which they won the Grammy Award. In 1997, she sang for an Indipop album named 'Janam Samjha Karo' along with Leslie Louis, which won the MTV Award. She has also sung for numerous Ghazals, along with some very famous Ghazal singers.

In addition to her extremely vast experimentation in several genres and types, her collaboration with foreign artistes comes as a feather in the cap. She has collaborated with artists and bands like Boy George, Fatboy Slim, Sarah Brightman, The Black Eyed Peas. Without any further doubt, she is a truly gem and a multi-talented personality, a prized asset for the nation.