Lata & Asha

Lata & Asha

TWO SISTERS. TWO LEGENDS. TWO UNMATCHED LEGACIES.

I was singing along with “Haal Kaisa Hai Janab Ka” (How are you doing?) playing on my mother’s cell phone when I received a breaking news update. I had played a playlist of old Hindi songs sung by the two legendary sisters, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle to distract my mother from her chronic pain. It was beginning to work. My mother smiled as I sang these lines along with the iconic Asha Bhosle’s voice asking her Haal Kaisa Hai (how do you feel?).

Now I immediately stepped into the next room to find out more details leaving my mother to enjoy the music. I took a deep breath as my head started to spin with multitude of songs all at once and memories associated with them. An underlying sadness had suddenly crept into the same upbeat songs that I had been enjoying until now.

Today, the beating heart that sang these songs which I can still hear playing in my mom’s room, has been silenced forever. Asha Bhosle is no more. An extraordinary leg of Indian music’s journey has ended. Her music has always put me in a happy place. It’s always made me tap my toes or snap my fingers or sing along. Right now it’s proving difficult to compile a list of her top 10 or 20 songs as the sheer volume of her prolific work is endless. There’s no number one or even number 10. I have always asked my daughter to play her songs on piano for me. Just a few months ago I made my son play his first Hindi song on sax — Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo Dil Ko — one of the most iconic and popular Hindi songs in Asha’s playful yet deeply romantic voice. It’s like her music is woven in the sub conscious soundtrack of my life.

Asha Bhosle’s career spanned over eight decades and in more than a dozen languages. She holds a world record for recording the most number of songs ever. A jaw dropping 12,000. She even released a song barely a year ago while in her nineties!! Her enthusiasm baffled me. However, this illustrious career did not have an easy start. Asha had to struggle in her early years to step out of her elder sister’s Lata Mangeshkar’s shadow. Eventually Asha established her own identity in a new genre of playful and romantic songs with music directors O.P. Nayyar and R.D. Burman. She accepted songs that her contemporaries dared not to sing.

One cannot think or write about one sister without mentioning the other. There has been a constant debate as to who was a better artist. In reality, it is an impossible comparison. They were two sides of the same coin. Both were extraordinary and brilliant in their craft, no matter the genre.

One of the most defining and often overlooked parallels in the lives of both, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle is that both were classically trained at a very early age by their father Dinanath Mangeshkar who was a respected classical vocalist and theater figure. And both had to step out and perform as a necessity after their father’s untimely death in 1942. Lata was a teenager and Asha even younger. Singing had suddenly gone from being an art form to a survival tool. Both sisters built their careers on resilience as much as on their talents.

While Lata’s songs were rooted in Indian classical music Asha ventured from Indian music to jazz, disco and other western music genres. Lata’s voice brought solace and calmness. A classic example is the song Mausam Hai Aashiquana from film Pakeeza. (Also brilliantly used in context of the situation in the film). Asha’s voice on the other hand brought sheer joy and energy. Yeh Ladka Hai Allah Kaisa Hai Deewana from the film Hum Kise Se Kum Nahe is a great example of Asha’s brilliance.

One classic example is two songs from the Hindi film Mr. Natwarlal, a record that we played endlessly in our childhood. One was Pardesia Yeh Sach Hai Piya sung by Lata Mangeshkar and Kishore Kumar. It is a very expressive song in Lata’s pure melodic voice and Kishore Kumar’s warmth. The other is Tauba Tauba sung by Asha Bhosle… teasing, playful, mischievous and stamped with Asha’s flirtatious sparkle. It is upbeat and rhythm driven, with an almost cabaret/light dance vibe. Pardesia is more melodic with classical & folk undertones and has more emotional depth.

Their brilliance came off even more when both dared to cross over into each other’s territories. Lata is usually associated with purity, bhajans (hymns), and classical melody but she surprised one and all with numbers like Aa Jaane Jaan (Film Intaquam) which is a full on cabaret number. Or the soft seductive Bahon Mein Chale Aao from film Anamika.

Asha on the other hand belted out ghazal and thumri style songs for Umrao Jaan that remain top classics to this day.

To sum it up, both sisters were equally brilliant but specialized in two different styles. Lata’s voice remained deeply rooted in Indian classical music and helped keep the classical core alive in popular music. Asha dared to expand it beyond its Indian boundaries and added a layer of western influences. Lata’s is the golden age of classic Indian cinema. Asha’s heralded the bold modern version. Yet both remain equally inspirational and entertaining and evergreen! Today their songs have become the benchmark to judge participants in Indian music talent shows like Sa Re Ga Ma, Indian Idol, etc.

May your soul get sadgati Asha Tai Bhosle as it travels towards the Eternal Light 🙏🏽 🙏🏽 Your heart may have stopped beating today, but the soundbites of your magical voice will keep echoing forever, dancing through generations, carrying joy, passion, and romance in every note. Forever grateful for your music and the memories associated with it 🙏🏽