Happy Birthday Asha Bhosle: Check out lesser-known facts about the singing sensation

Asha Bhosle's early life

Asha Bhosle was born Asha Mangeshkar on 8 September 1933 in Sangli, Maharashtra. She hails from a musical family of Deenanath Mangeshkar, who was Marathi and Konkani, and mother Shevanti, who was a Gujarati. Deenanth was an actor-singer who used to perform in Marathi musicals. Asha and her family moved to Mumbai when she was nine years old after her father Deenanath’s death and that led to the start of her musical career.

Asha Bhosle's extended family

Asha’s other sisters Lata and Usha Mangeshkar are playback singers along with her other siblings Meena and Hridaynath Mangeshkar who are music directors.

Asha Bhosle's initial career

Asha gave her voice to the 1943 released Marathi film Majha Bal for the song Chala Chala Nav Bala when she was merely 10 years old. The songs were composed by music composer Datta Davjekar. She later made her debut in the Hindi film industry in 1948 with Hansraj Behl's Chunariya by giving her voice to the song Saawan Aaya.

Asha Bhosle's stint in Bengali

Asha sang her first Bengali song in 1958 under the HMV banner. She later went on to sing many pooja songs in Bengali and also some of her Hindi pooja songs are also translated into Bengali.

Asha and Lata’s much-talked-about feud

Asha and Lata were considered to be inseparable in their childhood but Lata did not approve of Asha eloping with her lover, leaving Lata alone to earn for the family. Lata did not speak to Asha for many years after Asha’s marriage. It is even alleged that the 1998 movie Saaz was based on the duo's feud.

Asha Bhosle's personal life

Asha proved to be a romantic at heart when she eloped with thirty-one-year-old Ganpatrao Bhosle at the age of 16. The couple later separated in 1960 after an eleven-year-long courtship. They have three children and five grandchildren. The eldest is Hemant Bhosle who is a trained pilot but quit to have a career as a music composer. Her daughter Varsha committed suicide at the age of 56 and her youngest child is Anand Bhosle, who manages the singer's career. Asha later married Rahul Dev Burman who was six years younger than her.

Asha and her accolades

An impeccable singer, Asha has received several accolades from across the industry and has bagged prestigious awards such as National Film Awards for Best Female Playback Singer twice for the songs Dil Cheez Kya Hai in 1981 and Mera Kuch Samaan in 1986. She is also one of the few Indians to have been nominated for Grammy’s, that too twice for Ali Akbar Khan’s Legacy and other for her music album You’ve Stolen My Heart. She has also received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award for her contributions to Indian cinema in 2000.