Asha Bhosle

Asha Bhosle

Riz Khan interviews the great dame of Indian song with the eternally youthful voice, Asha Bhosle.

There are many prolific singers and songwriters, but few who could claim to have sung more than 13,000 songs to date – and that is a conservative estimate. Bhosle’s success can be attributed to her versatility, whether singing devotionals, ghazal (romance) or Bollywood film hits.

Listening to what sounds like a young girl singing, it is hard to believe that Asha Bhosle was born more than 70 years ago in a small town in western India.

She was only nine when her father died and she and her sister began singing and acting in films to support the family. Both became Bollywood legends, lending their voices to Indian starlets who would lip sync and dance to the songs – both classical and Hindi pop.

More than five decades of success have made Asha Bhosle a household name – a fame she credits to successful partnerships with composers and musicians. Today Asha Bhosle is just as active as a singer, but has also turned to business as a successful restauranteur – a project involving her family – which, she says is still more important than all the music awards she collects.

This episode of One on One airs from 29 September 2007 (Originally aired 30 March 2007).

Watch this episode of One on One here:

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