A Life Well Sung

We all have to leave this mortal world, but I feel there should be no fixed format for writing the obituary of a singing star: where born, which film, which year, which songs, in addition to “untimely death” and “sad demise”? Only a very morbid person would like their obituary to be written highlighting these facts.

Meeting the great singer and spending nearly two hours in her august company in 1990, my wife and I found her an extremely lively and joyous person. So, I am venturing to pen these lines on the dear departed Asha, one of the icons among the truly greats of the Indian film industry, in a rather lighter vein. I am sure if the angels read out this obituary to her, she would approve it for printing!

No King or Queen ever ruled the subcontinent for 80 long years. Asha Bhosle and her Didi Lata did. Akbar the Great – and even King Auranzeb Alamgir – ruled for a mere fifty years! But look, this commoner matched Asha Bhosle’s longevity; she was born in Sangli, Maharashtra, in 1933, and I arrived in Patna, Bihar, in 1934. Interesting! But, notwithstanding places of birth, one can claim that there are a few other things, too, common between the Queen and the commoner: she was a Virgo, born on September 8, so is the commoner, a Virgo born two days later on September 10. Her demise at age 92 is very saddening, but the thought of this scribe turning 92 this ‘Come September’ is difficult to look up to!

Now, let me confess that I have not heard her fast songs the way I heard Saigal, Punkaj Mullick, Jagmohan, Hemant, and her sister Lata’s old numbers. I fell in love with sad and romantic songs very early in life. So, the truth is, I passed over Asha’s fast-paced hits composed by O.P. Nayyar, R.D. Burman, and others. Perhaps it was the fact of belonging to the old generation of music lovers that made me ignore her ‘songs of the time.’ Perhaps Asha Bhosle never aged. She stayed young at heart – the way to go in life!

As for the great music directors of the old school (Punkaj Mullick, Kamal Dasgupta, Ghulam Haider, Anil Biswas, Khemchand Prakash, Shyam Sunder, Naushad, Khursheed Anwar, Sudhir Phadke, S.D. Burman, Salil Chaudhry, Roshan, Sajjad Husain), they stuck to their ethos, sensitivity and love of the classical and folk and went on creating heavenly music. Of course, a few of the above-mentioned used Asha’s voice in their films, but the number of songs is few and far between.

Here, let me recall some facts that one finds interesting:

• Gulzar preferred lyricist Raja Mehdi Ali Khan to write the lyrics of, and Music Director Madan Mohan to compose “Jhumka gira re Bareli ki bazar mein!”
• O.P. Nayyar composed “Reshmi shalwar kurta jali ka” and “Kuchh kuchh hon’ne laga mera dil khon’ne laga” and made Asha sing the songs with the senior Shamshad Begum.
• Some of the Music Directors of the old school, known for composing raag-based compositions, used Asha’s voice for different films, such as Madan Mohan composing ghazals “Ashkon se teri hum ne tasweer banai hai” and “Koi shikwa bhi nahee koi shikayet bhi naheen.” And Hemant Kumar composing geet “Chalo chalain maan’ sapnon ke gaon mein;” “Chal baadlon’ se aage kuchh aur hi saman hai,” and “Ye hansta hua karwan zindigi ka.”

But Khayyam did wonders using Asha’s voice for his masterpieces in the film Umrao Jan Ada: “Zindigi jub bhi teri bazm mein lati hai hamein,” “Justujo jis ki thi usko to na paya hum ne,” “Ye kia jagah hai dosto,” and “In ankhon ki masti ke mastane hazaron hain.”

For me personally, nothing to beat her youngest sibling Hridaynath’s composition and Asha’s rendering of “Jhoote naina bolein sanchi battian” in raag Bilas Khani Tori. This is a unique composition in this morning Raga. For me, it is also one of Asha Bhosle’s great songs.

She was the recipient of many awards, several of them very prestigious: Padma Vibhushan, the Dada Sahib Phalke Award, and the Filmfare Award.

I sometimes wonder why Asha loved to be a monetarily rich person. I suppose this is a trait with most celebrities, but at times, she went a bit too far. She did business with Pakistani singers: Atif Aslam, Jawad Ahmad, and Adnan Sami Khan.

But what perhaps goes to her credit is her fearless nature and the ability to cross hurdles coming in her way. She proved this in her two marriages; one husband was years older than her, the other years younger!

All said and done, she was a loveable character. She will be missed for a long time.