Asha thanks Khaleej Times for maintaining values, standards
was accompanied to the by my children. I had come back (from work) tired. My children suggested we go out for dinner to celebrate. We went to the Khyber restaurant (in Mumbai) and they took me to a dining hall on the first floor which was completely dark. Suddenly the lights came on and there was a huge crowd who had turned up for the celebration, including my mother, sisters, brother, singers and music directors from the film industry. It was a grand celebration and perhaps my most memorable birthday.
You are perhaps the only Bollywood artiste who has such a successful restaurant chain; now we hear that you’ve also opened an Asha’s outlet in Abu Dhabi.
I believe that behind every successful person, there is another person, be it a brother, son, father or anyone else. In my case, I have my son Anand Bhosle. He is my backbone. “Khaleej Times is a reputable paper in this region. They write and publish the truth. They don’t dwell on gossip. I have tremendous respect for the people working here, who are concerned about maintaining the values and the standards of the newspaper. I thank them and want them to continue with the good work.” Today, I am here because of him. He will never see me bow down. Then there are my twin grandchildren... we started this restaurant (in Wafi Mall) in Dubai when they were only 8 months old, so they have been lucky for us.
Now it’s been more than 17 years since we are running this restaurant. If your intentions are pure, the service is good and food is delicious, people will flock to your restaurant. Just like my songs, where we used to work hard and sing with all sincerity.
Which modern singer deserves to wear your crown?
If I have to choose someone it would be Sunidhi Chauhan. She imitates me a lot, though she lacks my range. Nevertheless, she knows how to express herself and whatever she sings, she sings well.
Recently, Lataji mentioned how you became successful because you carved your own unique path. When you started out, was there any pressure to sound a particular way?
Initially, we used to fear senior singers (of copying them). But I never imitated anyone, I had my style. I could have sung like my sister (Lata), my voice is quite similar to hers. But when two people had the same voice it was obvious that they (music directors) would choose my elder sister. So I thought that I should bring my individuality to my sound which should be different from hers. In any case, we were poles apart when it came to our personality. I used to cut my hair, wear jewellery and colourful saris, while Didi is very traditional. I am very talkative and she’s not. But I have to stress that if I had not changed my style I wouldn’t be here today.
Music has advanced with time. Today’s singers may be good, but they don’t have the opportunity to work with the kind of music directors that we had, so their talent cannot be fully explored. We had a lot of challenges in our days and we faced it every day – we had to sing in a variety of styles like sad songs, happy ones, peppy cabaret songs, mujra numbers etc.
Most of your hits are being remixed these days. Are you happy with the way they are being reinterpreted?
I was the first one to do remixes. Do you remember the album Rahul and I? I sang for the remixes in my original voice but improvised. I am the one to show them (the next generation) the path. Remixes are following the current trend in music. So it’s okay for them to do it. Not many singers these days are classically trained. That’s why their lifespan in the profession is limited.
New singers can sing, but what they lack is emotions and expressions. That’s why we don’t enjoy many of the songs these days, they sound very mechanical. I remember when I visited the Google headquarters in the USA, I was told that they have developed a software that can replicate my voice. So I questioned them. ‘You can duplicate any voice, but what about human emotions and feeling, is a machine capable of doing that?’ And they agreed with me.
How does it feel when you see people still listening to your classics?
Among old songs you have songs for any mood like happiness, joy, sadness. We had legendary lyricists like Sahir Ludhianvi, Majrooh Sultanpuri, Shakeel. Besides the lyrics, we also had good music directors and wonderful singers and the three would combine well. So it was a blend of these three factors, and on top of that, we had to inject the song with our individual feelings, expression and style. That’s the reason past songs still live in people’s memory.
What is the difference between yesteryear and current music?
Massive. Composers knew classical music, they were maestros. That’s why you will still hear radio stations blasting R.D. Burman’s songs even these days. In those days, music directors would compose tunes based on an artiste’s vocal capabilities. I remember once asking R.D. Burman why he was giving me so many difficult songs to sing, and his reply was, ‘Because you can sing it. That’s why I compose them, but if you don’t want to, then I will compose an easy tune for you. I compose because I know you can deliver – you and Kishore (Kumar)’. We three were a powerful combination.
How was Kishore to work with?
He was a very fun loving person, but eccentric because he was a genius. He was a singer, music director, songwriter, filmmaker and actor. There were so many qualities to him, and he was a very jovial person, he used to make everyone laugh – it’s very difficult to be sad yourself and make others laugh.
How did you shape your voice for different songs?
I recollect S.D. Burman telling me, ‘Asha, think you are Helen (the actress) when you are singing for her character’.
But I was fat while Helen was fit! So how could I feel like her, I asked R.D. jokingly! And he told me, ‘You just have to think in your mind you’re Helen though you’re not (physically)’.
So from that time onwards, I study and imagine the character to bring out the feel in the song. Once I was made to cry before recording a song to give it a realistic touch.