The landscape for western independent music in India in the 1960s was so barren compared to today that it could have resembled the marshlands of Andheri West before Lokhandwala was built. It's not that there was a dearth of talent. There was instead a lack of opportunity. Venues were few and far between. Procuring quality instruments was next to impossible given the blind eye India turned to imports back then. This meant that even getting your hands on records that were defining the sounds of the West usually involved an NRI uncle who came back bearing gifts. So, the best young musicians of the time thought up innovative ways to flee the nest, hoping to find an audience in the West that would let their talent fly. And one such person was Asha Puthli, a go-getting girl with an inimitable voice that could be Indian and western, and innocent and sensual, all at one go.

Puthli with Sir Anthony Hopkins and Ismail Merchant at a party