End of an Era: Legendary Singer Asha Bhosle No More

A bright star of the Indian music world, legendary singer Asha Bhosle is no more. She breathed her last on Sunday (April 12) while undergoing treatment at Breach Candy Hospital in Mumbai.

She was 92 years old at the time of her death. She had been admitted to the hospital last Saturday due to heart disease and respiratory complications.

Hospital sources said that the artist had been suffering from age-related illnesses for the past few months. When her physical condition deteriorated on Saturday night, she was shifted to the ICU. On Sunday afternoon, her son Anand Bhosle confirmed the news of the demise of this eminent artist. Her last rites will be performed tomorrow, Monday.

One of the most successful and popular singers in the history of Indian cinema, Asha Bhosle was born in 1933 into the music-loving Mangeshkar family. She began singing professionally at the age of just 9. After recording her first song in films in 1943, she established a strong position in Bollywood by the 1950s. Without being overshadowed by her elder sister Lata Mangeshkar, she captivated listeners for decades with her own distinctive singing style.

Although she was initially typecast for peppy or cabaret-style songs, she later proved her versatility by singing ghazals in the film Umrao Jaan. Throughout her long career, she won the Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer seven times and the National Film Award twice. She received national recognition for the songs “Dil Cheez Kya Hai” from Umrao Jaan and “Mera Kuch Saaman” from the film Ijaazat.

In an interview in 2023, speaking about modern music, she said, “To be honest, I don’t listen to contemporary songs now. For learning and practice, I listen to classical music or songs by Bhimsen Joshi. However, sometimes I do like songs by Rahat Fateh Ali Khan or Sunidhi Chauhan.”

Asha Bhosle’s personal life was quite dramatic. At the age of just 16, she married her personal secretary, 31-year-old Ganpatrao Bhosle, against her family’s wishes. However, due to mistreatment at her in-laws’ home, she left that relationship in 1960 with her three children.

Later, in 1980, she married the famous music director Rahul Dev Burman (R. D. Burman). Despite strong opposition from the Burman family, their long-standing love culminated in marriage. They remained together until Burman’s death in 1994. In the final years of her life, her granddaughter Zanai Bhosle was her close companion. With her passing, a golden era of Indian music has come to an end.