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Asha Bhosle had once told me that she had been a “bandakhor” (rebel) since childhood. Though born into a family of Indian classical musician Pt. Deenanath Mangeshkar and his children (sisters Lata, Meena and Usha and brother Hridaynath), she was charmed by Western music from the very beginning, showcasing her future bent towards composers inclined towards beats, like O.P. Nayyar and R.D. Burman.
Keen to cleave out her individual image, she realized that she would have to carve out a different style from her sister. Her initial avid listening exposure was to Elvis Presley, Caterina Valente and Carmen Miranda. The efforts paid off along with her Indian classical training and constant riyaaz (musical practice). She could belt out the intricacies of pure as well as simple classical compositions as skillfully as belting out R.D. Burman serenades like Aaja aaja (Teesri Manzil), S.D. Burman’s Raat akeli hai (Jewel Thief), Laxmikant-Pyarelal’s Hungama ho gaya (Anhonee) and Bappi Lahiri’s Disco station (Haathkadi)—and everything in-between.
Her experiments outside India also included Meraj-e-Ghazal (1983), Pakistani ghazal exponent Ghulam Ali’s presentation of Asha Bhosle, where he composed and sang some duets with her. In 2006, she also recorded one song, Dil key taar bajey, with Pakistani pop singer Jawad Ahmed for the Pakistani movie, Mein Ek Din Laut Kay Aaaonga.
In the early 1990s, Bhosle sang with Boy George (Bow down mister) and Stephen Lauscombe. In 1997, she sang a love song with the boy band, Code Red, at the age of 64 besides doing her Indian pop album, Jaanam Samjha Karo. She also recorded the song The way you dream with Michael Stipe of the brand REM that was used in the English movie, Bulletproof Monk. The song was also released on the album, 1 Giant Leap, in 2002.
For the popular American group Kronos Quartet, she did version recordings of R.D. Burman’s songs in You Stole My Heart, a compilation album. In 2007, in a collab with Australian cricketer and musician Brett Lee, Asha warbled the Hindi words, penned and composed by Shameer Tandon, in the song, You are the one for me for the album, Asha And Friends. The other meeting points happened with Cornerstone, a British band led by an Indian named Tjinder Singh(no typo there), releasing A brimful of Asha in 1997. There was also a collab track with Sarah Brightman, You take my breath away, written and composed by Frank Peterson, which also sampled her cult song, Dil cheez kya hai, from Umrao Jaan (1982).
Asha even won two Grammy nominations: the first for Legacy, her album of eleven fixed compositions (or bandish) recorded with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan in California in 1997, and for Best Contemporary World Music Album for You’ve Stolen My Heart—Songs from R.D. Burman’s Bollywood in 2005.
Also in 2005, the Rap group, The Black-Eyed Peas, sampled her songs, Ae naujawan sab kuchh yahan (from the film Apradh) and Yeh mera dil pyar ka diwana (Don) in their hit single, Don’t phunk with my heart. This track won them the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group and Broadcast Music, Inc. felicitated composers Kalyanji-Anandji and lyricist Indeevar.
And the final cherry on the cake was her last-ever recording. Not for her a devotional or a film song like most others, but the track, A shadowy light from the British English virtual band, Gorillaz. Released this February, the song was created by musician Damon Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlet in their ninth studio album, Mountain (Parvat). Asha opened the song with the lines, Chal gehre paani mein naiyya utaar, sharing vocal credits with Gorillaz and Gruff Rhys.
Global icon? Of course, Asha Bhosle was that too!
