Abhi na jao chhod kar: An ode to Asha Bhosle

My first encounter was with Ashatai over threeanda half decades ago as a rookie journalist when she was recording for a Marathi song at a suburban recording studio When the filmrsquos director realised that I was a journalist he was perturbed because he thought that I would leak the music of the film and Tai promptly put her arm around me and said ldquoTo lahan mula aahe Tu tyachyaavar sanshay kasa gheu shaktordquoThe late Asha Bhosle captured here in the kitchen of her South Mumbai residence after receiving the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2000 PicRane AshishAnd her arm continued to be around me when I directed several music videos with her Starting with the Aap Ke Dil Mein song with Sanjay Dutt as part of the Asha amp Friends album She would often make fun of me and mimic me pulling up my trousers during the shoot as I had lost weight by then She was a terrific mimic and she even imitated the legendary Sunil Dutt who was like a brother to her when she met Sanjay Dutt1991Year lsquoBow Down Misterrsquo was releasedSanjay Dutt and Asha Bhosle shoot for the music video of lsquoAap Ke Dil MeinrsquoSanjursquos surpriseIn fact how we got Sanjay Dutt to sing for her is a funny story When we called Sanju and told him that Ashaji would like to speak to him Sanju thought it was actress Asha Parekh calling him to attend a Cine Artists Association meeting When he realised it was Asha Bhosle wanting to sing with him he almost fell off his chair Later at the recording she narrated how she had even sung with Sunil Dutt once and put Sanju at ease She did the same with Urmila Matondkar as well telling her to calm down and just singA field of her ownThatrsquos the reason why she took on breezy numbers with OP Nayyar the rocking ones with RD Burman and went on to collaborate a lot with international artistes from Boy George for Bow Down Mister in 1991 Kronos Quartet for Yoursquove Stolen My Heart Michael Stipe for The Way You Dream Code Red for We Can Make It and finally with Gorillaz for The Shadowy Light in 2026Damon Albarn of Gorillaz was a fan of her psychedelic work with Panchamda in the 1970s and was amazed at her ability to reproduce the same magic at the age of 92With Urmila Matondkar at Mukesh Mills in ColabaCulinary prowessOnce we had a 6 am call time for a music video shoot of hers with Urmila Matondkar at Mukesh Mills Colaba and she was there at 530 am all cheery and perked up gobbling up the breakfast she carried from home also bringing extra for all those working on the shoot No wonder she had everyone from Tom Cruise to Amitabh Bachchan to British boxer Amir Khan eating out of her hands be it in the music domain or at her global restaurants She cooked so well like her sister the late Lata Mangeshkar I have had the fortune of being fed by them and listening to her fun comments on not being able to taste their best dishes as I am a vegetarianIconic duetInterestingly when we were set to sing and shoot a collaborative song with Brett Lee the Aussie pacer was a bit apprehensive ldquoMy wife is delivering a baby and I donrsquot want to be linked to a ladyrdquo Then we showed him Ashtairsquos picture and body of work and explained that she was 72 and 43 years older than Brett who was 29 then So Brett came in and recorded and later when he came to the shoot she told him ldquoIf you get a son call him Sachinrdquo not after Sachin Dev Burman but her favourite cricketer and Brettrsquos becircte noire Sachin TendulkarAsha Bhosle offers her blessings to then up and coming cricketer Mali Richards the son of West Indies cricketing great Sir Viv Richards at the CCI in 2005 PICSantosh Harhare midday archivesWhat sibling rivalryThe legend once spoke to me about the socalled rivalry that the entire industry and fans felt existed between her and her legendary sister ldquoWe sang 80 songs together How can she be a competitor She was already a star when I started How can one have two Taj Mahals So I had to pick a niche for myself In fact Geeta Dutt was a competitor I was just her younger sisterrdquo she saidA perfect symmetryIncidentally both sisters passed away at the age of 92 and died four years apart as their age difference was four years And both died on a Sunday at the Breach Candy hospital It is as if fate itself aligned to a perfect symmetry leaving fans in silence and to play their swansongs mdash that only their melodies can fill