Asha Bhosle

Asha Bhosle turns 78 today. But age has not withered the voice of the singer who has been active in the Indian music industry since 1943. Born on September 8, 1933, in Sangli, Maharashtra, she was the daughter of Deenanath Mangeshkar, a Marathi musician and theatre personality. The untimely death of her father, forced both Asha and her elder sister Lata to start singing in films to support their family.While Lata's musical career reached great heights at quite an early stage, Asha had to live in the shadow of her sister's singing career and most her songs in 1950's failed to do well. Her early music career was restricted to singing for B grade Hindi films. It was with B R Chopra's Naya Daur (1957), that she first tasted success. Her duet with Rafi like Uden jab jab zulfein teri, lyrics written by Sahir Ludhianvi put her firmly at par with other female lead singers.[caption id="attachment_79344" align="alignleft" width="380" caption="Asha Bhosle remains the voice of the Indian music industry. Getty Images."][/caption]She was soon signed by B R Chopra for his other films such as Waqt, Gumraah, Humraaz, Aadmi Aur Insaan and Dhund. Asha sang with R D Burman, whom she would later marry, for the film, Teesri Manzil in the 1966 which marked a turning point for her career. Aaja Aaja, was a Western dance song, which became an instant hit. Post that hit she teamed with RD Burman regularly and they duo sang a number of hit songs together such as O Haseena Zulfonwali and O Mere Sona Re.It was in the 1960's and 70's that she finally gained prominence as a singer. She lent her voice to many of Helen's songs which were catchy and had a popular tinge to them.Asha Bhosle till date remains one of the most popular female playback singers in Bollywood. She has won many awards in her musical career, which includes two National Film Awards for the songs Mera kuch samaan from the movie Ijaazat and the song Dil cheez kya hai from the film Umrao Jaan. She is also the only Indian musician to be nominated for a Grammy in 1997 for the album Legacy with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan. The Indian government has also honoured her with a Padma Vibhushan for her contribution to music.