Asha Bhosle Height Weight Bra Size Age Biography Family Wiki Net Worth, Affairs, Marriage & much more. Asha Bhosle (born 8 September 1933) is an Indian playback singer and entrepreneur. She is best known for her playback singing in Hindi cinema, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle’s career started in 1943 and has spanned over seven decades. She has given her voice for over a thousand movies. In addition, she has recorded several IndiPop albums and participated in numerous solo concerts in India and abroad. In 2006, Asha Bhosle stated that she had sung over 12,000 songs, a figure repeated by several other sources. In 2011, she was officially acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most recorded artist in music history. The Government of India honoured her with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2008. Bhosle is the sister of playback singer Lata Mangeshkar and belongs to the prominent Mangeshkar family.
Renowned for her soprano voice range and often credited for her versatility, Bhosle’s work includes film music, pop, ghazals, bhajans, traditional Indian classical music, folk songs, qawwalis, and Rabindra Sangeet. Apart from Hindi, she has sung in over 20 Indian and foreign languages. In 2013, she made her debut as an actress in the film Mai, and received critical acclaim for her performance.
Early life and career
Asha Mangeshkar was born in the small hamlet of Goar in Sangli, then in the salute princely state of Sangli (now in Maharashtra), into the musical family of Deenanath Mangeshkar, who was Marathi and Konkani, and his Gujarati wife, Shevanti. Deenanath was an actor and classical singer on the Marathi Musical stage. When Asha was nine years old, her father died. The family moved from Pune to Kolhapur and then to Mumbai. She and her elder sister Lata Mangeshkar began singing and acting in films to support their family. She sang her first film song ‘”Chala Chala Nav Bala” for the Marathi film Majha Bal (1943). The music for the film was composed by Datta Davjekar. She made her Hindi film debut when she sang the song “Saawan Aaya” for Hansraj Behl’s Chunariya (1948). Her first solo Hindi film song was for the movie Raat Ki Raani (1949).
At the age of 16, she eloped with 31-year-old Ganpatrao Bhosle, marrying him against her family’s wishes.
Personal life
Asha’s house is situated in Prabhukunj Apt on the Peddar Road area of South Mumbai. Asha, at the age of 16, had eloped with 31-year-old Ganpatrao Bhosle. They separated in 1960. They have three children and five grandchildren. The eldest of her three children, Hemant Bhosle (named after Hemant Kumar), spent most of his early years as a pilot and quit to have a brief career as a music director. Bhosle’s daughter Varsha committed suicide on 8 October 2012; she was 56 years old and worked as a columnist for The Sunday Observer and Rediff.
Asha’s youngest child, Anand Bhosle, has studied business and film direction. He manages Asha’s career. Her grandson, Chaitanya (Chintu) Bhosle (Hemant’s son) is a part of the world of music. He is a member of India’s first & only boy band, “A Band of Boys”. Her sisters Lata and Usha Mangeshkar are playback singers. Her other, sister Meena Mangeshkar and brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar are music directors. Her granddaughter Zanai Bhosle (daughter of Anand Bhosle) runs iAzure Apple Inc. Store in Mumbai. Zanai is an emerging singer and Kathak dancer and had sung with Asha Bhosle.
Hemant Bhosle ‘s best known compositions were the Kishore-Asha duets such as “Aji Kaho Kya Haal Hai” from Anpadh picturised on Vijendra Ghatke and “Sarika” and “Salamat Raho Tum” from the same film “Anpadh” picturised on Ashok Kumar and Sarika. Hemant died of cancer in 2015.
Asha’s first husband Ganpatrao was her personal secretary. Their marriage failed miserably in 1960. Her husband and in-laws mistreated her. After a few years of marriage, Asha was turned out by a suspicious Ganpatrao and she went to her maternal home with two children while pregnant with her third child. She continued to sing in films to earn money. Asha married Rahul Dev Burman in 1980. This was the second marriage for both Rahul and Asha. Rahul, 6 years younger than her, earlier got divorced from Rita Patel in 1971.
Asha is an excellent cook and cooking is her favorite hobby. She often gets flooded with requests by Hind film celebrities for kadai ghosht and biryani dishes and has rarely turned down a request. In fact, her paya curry, Goan fish curry and dal are very popular with the Kapoor family of Hindi films. Once, when asked in a The Times of India interview, what if her singing career had not taken off, she said “I would have become a cook. I’d have cooked in four houses and made money.” The love of cooking got Asha into a successful restaurant business. She runs restaurants in Dubai and Kuwait called Asha’s. Asha’s offers traditional north-western Indian cuisine. It has a presence in the Wafi City development in Dubai, as well as three restaurants in Kuwait, at The Avenues Mall, the Marina Mall and a brand new third outlet at the Spoons Complex. Other restaurants can be found in Abu Dhabi’s Khaldiya Mall, Doha’s Villagio and Bahrain’s City Center Mall, with future outposts planned for Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates and Cairo, Egypt. Asha Bhosle has a 20% stake in the business. Asha is not involved in the day-to-day running of the restaurant which is looked after by the Wafi Group. She takes care of the kitchen and the décor. She personally trained the chefs for almost six months. According to a December 2004 report in Menu Magazine, Russell Scott, a former head of Harry Ramsden’s (the fish and chips chain), secured the UK rights to the Asha’s brand and planned to open up to 40 restaurants over the next five years. As part of her chain of restaurants, Asha has recently opened a new restaurant in Birmingham, UK. Asha Bhosle will be on view at the Madame Tussauds gallery that opens in New Delhi soon.
Asha Bhosle Age Husband Children Family Biography & More
In popular culture
British alternative rock band Cornershop released “Brimful of Asha” in 1997. The song, dedicated to Asha Bhosle, became an international hit single for the band and topped the UK Singles Chart in February 1998. A number of remixes have been released as well, notably by Norman Cook, also known as Fatboy Slim.
Awards
Filmfare awards
Asha Bhosle has won seven Filmfare Best Female Playback Awards of 18 nominations. She won her first two awards in 1967 and 1968. (Mangeshkar asked not to be considered for the award nominations after 1969 to promote new talent). After receiving the award in 1979, Bhosle emulated her elder sister and requested that her name not be considered for the nominations hereafter. Despite this, Bhosle is the most frequent winner of this award to date, tying with Alka Yagnik. She was later given a Special Award for Rangeela in 1996, and the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001. Following is the list of her Filmfare Awards:
Filmfare Best Female Playback Award
- 1968: “Garibon ki Suno” (Dus Lakh, 1966)
- 1969: “Parde Mein Rehne Do” (Shikar, 1968)
- 1972: “Piya Tu Ab To Aaja” (Caravan, 1971)
- 1973: “Dum Maro Dum” (Hare Rama Hare Krishna, 1972)
- 1974: “Hone Lagi Hain Raat” (Naina, 1973)
- 1975: “Chain Se Humko Kabhi” (Pran Jaye Par Vachan Na Jaye, 1974)
- 1979: “Yeh Mera Dil” (Don, 1978)
Special Award
- 1996 – Special Award (Rangeela, 1995)
Lifetime Achievement Award
- 2001 – Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
National Film Awards
Asha has won the National Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer twice:
- 1981: Dil Cheez Kya Hai (Umrao Jaan)
- 1986: Mera Kuch Samaan (Ijaazat)
IIFA Awards
IIFA Award for Best Female Playback
- 2002: “Radha Kaisa Na Jale” ( Lagaan)
Other awards
Asha has won numerous other awards, including:
- 1987: Nightingale Of Asia Award (from the Indo–Pak Association, UK).
- 1989: Lata Mangeshkar Award (Government of Madhya Pradesh).
- 1997: Screen Videocon Award (for the album Jaanam Samajha Karo).
- 1997: MTV Award (for the album Jaanam Samajha Karo).
- 1997: Channel V Award (for the album Jaanam Samjha Karo).
- 1998: Dayawati Modi Award.
- 1999: Lata Mangeshkar Award (Government of Maharashtra)
- 2000: Singer of the Millennium (Dubai).
- 2000: Zee Gold Bollywood Award (for Mujhe Rang De from Thakshak).
- 2001: MTV Award (for Kambakht Ishq).
- 2002: BBC Lifetime Achievement Award (presented by the UK Prime Minister Tony Blair).
- 2002: Zee Cine Award for Best Playback Singer – Female (for Radha Kaise Na Jale from Lagaan).
- 2002: Zee Cine Special Award for Hall of Fame.
- 2002: Sansui Movie Award (for Radha Kaise Na Jale from Lagaan).
- 2003: Swaralaya Yesudas Award for outstanding contributions to Indian music.
- 2004: Living Legend Award by the Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
- 2005: MTV Immies, Best Female Pop Act for Aaj Jaane Ki Zid Na Karo.
- 2005: Most Stylish People in Music.
Honours and recognitions
- In 1997, Asha became the first Indian singer to be nominated for the Grammy Award, for Legacy, an album with Ustad Ali Akbar Khan.
- She has received seventeen Maharashtra State Awards.
- She received the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2000 for her outstanding contribution to Indian cinema.
- She holds honorary doctorates from the university of Amravati and University of Jalgaon in Literature and from the University of Salford in Arts.
- She has received The Freddie Mercury Award for Outstanding Achievement in Arts.
- The Birmingham Film Festival paid her a special tribute in November 2002.
- She was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan by the Government of India.
- She was among top 20 music icons of the past 50 years.
- In 2011 the Guinness Book of World Records officially acknowledged Bhosle, at The Asian Awards, as the most recorded artist in the history of music. She was awarded a certificate for “the most studio recordings (singles) from Sebastian Coe for recording up to 11,000 solo, duet and chorus-backed songs and in over 20 Indian languages since 1947”. At the event she was also awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award.
- Asha Bhosle is the recipient of the first Doctor of Literature (D.Litt.) of the Jodhpur National University.
- BBC list of 100 inspiring women for 2015.