This article is written by Raja, a fellow enthusiast of Hindi movie music and a regular contributor to this blog.
Earlier today, Atul informed me that we are now closing in on 1400 songs for Asha Bhosle on the blog and maybe I’d like to do a write-up for her 1400th?
To date, I have never ever refused a request from Atul to do a write-up – and today was no exception. I immediately said “Sure”. For it is not just a pleasure, but also an honour, to do a write-up here on this blog. And if I ever have to say “no, sorry” to Atul, it would only be because of genuine constraints, never because of any other reason.
Thankfully that day hasn’t come yet – and hopefully it will not. Anything I can do to contribute to this blog in any capacity, I’d be happy to do.
As I sat to think about what song to pick, it struck me that of all the songs I’ve written up here, many of them anniversary or milestone related, there has hardly been any dedicated to Asha Bhosle. Maybe just the odd one. Sure, there have been many Asha songs, but none that I readily recall, celebrating any of her milestones.
And that, I felt, is grossly unfair on my part. It is just not done.
Ashaji (or Asha tai as she is lovingly referred to by many) is one of my favourite artistes and it’s completely unacceptable to me that I haven’t done justice to her here.
And this 1400th song (so she has celebrated 13 centuries before this here) is as good as any to make a start. Like they say, better late than never. Or, in Urdu, der aaye, durust aaye.
Where do I start with Ashaji?
When I was a kid, the first two big female singer names I knew were Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle. (I got to know Geeta Dutt, Shamshad Begum and others just a bit later).
And in my mind, Lata sang the heroine’s songs – the sad, crying ones, and the ones running around trees. And Asha sang the cabaret dance songs. That was my simplistic way of identifying the singers. I couldn’t make out from the voice.
Later on, when I got a bit more aware of them, I realized that there was much more – much much more – to Asha’s voice than just cabaret dance numbers. My first “aware” Asha song might have been “piya tu ab to aaja” but I began to realize that boxing her as a “cabaret dance” singer was doing ridiculous injustice to her ability and range.
I began to notice more and more of Asha. And began noticing that her voice was quite distinctive – very different from Lata’s.
One of the first Asha non-cabaret songs that completely floored me was “Tora mann darpan kehlaaye” from Kaajal, when I first saw it way back in the 1970s. It was a devotional song (in my mind such songs were “made for Lata”) and here was Asha singing it so beautifully, so beautifully that I was completely floored. I could hardly believe that it was Asha singing this devotional song so amazingly
(Years later, I got the biggest shock of my life when I learnt that the famous Helen cabaret “aa jaane ja” from Inteqam is sung by Lata and not Asha. So much for stereotyping them!).
Of course, Asha has sung many non-cabaret numbers. In the 1970s (when I was a schoolboy) and in later decades, there have been countless Asha classics, many in the non-cabaret variety. She has proven her versatility on multiple occasions and I don’t think anybody doubts her range. Even Lata admitted in a recent interview that Asha’s range was probably better than hers.
From what I’ve read, Asha’s career got a fillip only in the late 50s largely because of Geeta Dutt’s personal problems. She’d sung a few popular songs before this too (CID and Naya Daur, for example) but became a regular for OP Nayyar only when he switched from Geeta Dutt to her. Also SD Burman began using Asha more and more, as he moved away from Geeta Dutt and Lata. This is what I’ve read – I’ll be happy to be corrected if I’m wrong.
In any case, it is unthinkable for me that a talent like Asha would have not made it on her own anyway. Her voice has always had something very special about it. Whether it is the mischievous “bhanwra bada nadaan hai” (Sahib Bibi Aur Ghulam) or the classical dance “tere khayalon mein hum” (Geet Gaaya Pattharon Ne), or the romantic “isharon isharon” with Rafisaab (Kashmir ki Kali), or the saheliyon-ke-saath “jab chali thandi hawa” (Do Badan), or the hauntingly beautiful “yehi wo jagah hai” (Ye Raat Phir Na Aayegi), Asha’s voice has a unique stamp of its own in almost every song she sings.
The amazing thing is that she has managed to retain this quality right through her career! Many singers’ voices sound understandably a little jaded or old over a period of time but with Asha, even today, her voice sounds just as fresh as it sounds in her 1960s songs. At least to me. And that is absolutely remarkable.
In an interview I saw last year, I saw Asha identifying distinctive phases in her career. The OP Nayyar phase, the RD Burman phase, the “ghazal” phase (with Umrao Jaan, Ijaazat) and the more recent phase (I think she loosely equated it with AR Rahman). She said that for each phase she re-invented herself.
For example, when she had to sing those ghazals in Umrao Jaan, she was very nervous. But Khayyam saab gave her a lot of support and confidence and she managed to come up with some of the finest songs of her career. But that is our Asha Bhosle – she has always adapted and remained young at heart, proving that biological age is just a number. In fact, she even sang a song with Australian cricket Brett Lee a few years ago – how wonderful is that!
And to think that she has gone through so many personal hardships in her life! Her marriage, her strained relationship with family for a while as a result, her broken relationship with OP Nayyar, then the death of RD Burman. And recently, the loss of her daughter. How hard must it have been for her to take all this in her stride! A lesser person might not have survived all these catastrophes – but Asha has not only survived, she has come out of them with an attitude that would put anybody to shame.
My admiration for Asha Bhosle therefore goes way beyond her singing (of which I am a massive fan anyway). May she live a long life and continue to sing for a long time.
Coming to the song for today.
I could have picked any one of many songs – there are many Asha songs not yet posted.
But, as I always like to do, I’ve chosen a somewhat obscure song, from a somewhat obscure movie. After all, that is one of the hallmarks of this blog, right? ?
This song is “mere dil mein teri tasveer” from Ek Hans Ka Joda (1975).
It is a duet which is started off by Bhupinder (with a couple of lovely lines) but then Asha takes over the rest of the song. I’d never heard this song before I saw the film 3-4 years ago. In fact, I happened to see this film only because I’d heard the title song as a little boy but had no clue which film it was from. When I found this movie on youtube, I watched it mainly for the title song. As so often happens, I discovered other songs of the film too – of which I liked this one in particular.
It is a soft, romantic song with nice lyrics by Indeevar. And the music is by (in my opinion, much under-rated) Jaidev. And by coincidence, today (3 august 2013) happens to be his 94th birth anniversary. So this song is a tribute to Jaidev as well.
The movie storyline, from what I remember, is somewhat like this. Vijay Arora (Anil) and Zaheera (Tina) are madly in love with each other. But he’s from a poor family, she’s from a rich family. Though their parents object, Zaheera’s grandfather (Utpal Dutt) is more modern in his thinking. He suggests they could have a “trial marriage” for a couple of months to see whether their love could really stand the test of life’s real tribulations. They’d have to live on Anil’s meagre earnings. And they’d get to spend only the daytime together, nights would have to be in respective homes.
The story then goes on to show how they cope with these conditions. How their families try to separate them through misunderstanding. And how, finally (it being a Hindi movie), their love prevails against all odds.
I remember finding the movie ok. Not excellent but watchable. But then I usually start watching such movies with zero expectations anyway so I’m rarely disappointed. ? At least it had some sort of a storyline and wasn’t the typical masala movie of the times.
I will leave you with the song. I hope you enjoy it. I know I liked it when I heard it for the first time. And even today, when I played it again to write down the lyrics, I find I still like it a lot.
Song-Mere dil mein teri tasweer sada rehti hai (Ek Hans Ka Joda)(1975) Singers-Bhupinder Singh, Asha Bhonsle, Lyrics-Indeewar, MD-Jaidev
Lyrics
Abke hum bichhde to shaayad kabhi khwaabon mein milein
jis tarah sookhe hue phool
kitaabon mein milein
abke hum
mere dil mein
hmm hmm hmm hmm hmm
mere dil mein teri tasveer sadaa rehti hai
mere dil mein teri tasveer sadaa rehti hai
meri taqdeer mein tu hai ya nahin
kya jaanoon
mere dil mein teri tasveer sadaa rehti hai
mere dil mein
tere haathon ki haraarat hai mere haathon mein
khwaab ban kar
khwaab ban kar tu bas gayaa hai meri raaton mein
main tasavvur mein tere hoon ya nahin
kya jaanoon
mere dil mein teri tasveer sadaa rehti hai
mere dil mein
phir yoon hi chaand ke mukhde pe jawaani hogi
phir yoon hi
phir yoon hi ghoomti nadiyon mein ravaani hogi
tu mere saamne hoga ya nahin
kya jaanoon
mere dil mein teri tasveer sadaa rehti hai
meri taqdeer mein tu hai ya nahin
kya jaanoon
hmmm hmmm hmmm
hmmm hmmm hmmm
hmm hmmhmmm
lala la la
lala lalala
lalalalala
ahaha ha ha
ahahahaha
