1971 was the year. The Bangla Desh war black-outs could not blur the lure of "Monica". Why, to manage the black-outs and power-cuts, there used to be special matinee shows of "Caravan". Helen's sensuous cabaret which captured the lascivious words for which the 'poet' Majrooh Sultanpuri felt ashamed began with "dekho, wo aa gaya".
It was Asha's zingy, youthful, seductive voice which captured the R. D. Burman sorcery of zany rhythm and high pitched excitement. Fast forward now to 2025. "Dhurandhar", the mega block buster. Yet again the same enchantment with the same song! Hence the best tribute to the ever youthful, vibrant, versatile voice of Asha Bhosle would be "Suno, wo chaa gayi thi, chayi hai, chayi rahegi". She was/is/will be forever! The "RIP" is a mere formality!
Controversies never ever tired of chasing Asha. "Dum, Maro dum", her award winning iconic declaration of total emancipation, was for a long time off the then very few (formal modes of ) platforms. She had solid doubts about the way Khayyam wanted her to pitch her notes in "Umrao Jaan".
The less said the better (as the truth value of such imagined wor(l)ds would be known only to the real actors) about her much gossiped about sensational personal life, be it her elopement with Bhosale or liaisons with O.P. Nayyar or R.D.Burman, or her much-touted rivalry with Lataji.
What survived, survives, and will survive despite a difficult life is her lyrical, smooth, enchanting voice full of a soft strength. Like Lataji, she emoted with her singing. Her range included the hyper talented Nutan, Geeta Bali, Wahida to the beautiful beyond words Madhubala or Sadhana to the naughty Helen or the sweet cute Asha Parekh, and many, many, many more. Remember her 2024 release with her granddaughter or the 2025 Adnan Sami collab?
She sang all possible genres in very many languages, both filmi/non-filmi versions, worked with practically all music directors, she jammed with international sensations. Yet, personally, my all time favourite is her natya sangeet. She re-created, nay, immortalised the Deenanath Mangeshkar magic in her own unique way.
In my opinion, that is the way she led a tough life, too. Every rejection, each rebuff, any reduction thrown at her, she magically, mystically, memorably managed to transcreate in to a 'moment-ous' victory. "Still I will rise" will be the best homage to Asha, whom I do not mind thus intimately referring to with love (no "ji" for her, right?) even when she was older than my mother!
Pratima@ Her Marathi songs are simply superb, be it the folk "gomu sangti ne" or the gazal "kenvha tari pahate" or the greatest childhood song "baba anik aai yatil kon awade" which all of us have sung umpteen times in our own way, right?
Quote of the day: "Music, when soft voices die/vibrates in the memory," says Shelley.
Word of the day: enchantment Enchantment refers to a feeling of great delight, fascination, or a magical spell. Like the spell-binding effect of Asha's notes!
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