Asha Bhosle Birthday 2023: Her and Burman's melodious journey, discordant end

Intrinsically talented both separately and jointly gave a new direction to Hindi film musicBut to achieve this Asha Bhosle and Rahul Dev Burman had to surmount a major hurdle creating a new identity distinct from their illustrious and established kin elder sibling Lata Mangeshkar and father Sachin Dev BurmanAnd both succeeded with a combination of luck support their own undeniable virtuosity and above all their first joint effortAsha Bhosle who is still going strong at 90 having worked with four generations of music composers from OP Nayyar to AR Rehman added a sensuous allure and element of forthrightness for the Hindi film heroine without becoming risque or boisterous even as Burman adroitly used pop and jazz to good effect in electrifying film music bringing the age of Elvis Presley and the Beatles to IndiaRejected at a trial for a film in 1947 as the sound recording engineer did not like her voice as of her cosinger who happened to be Kishore Kumar Asha slowly persevered over the next decade as the voice of supporting actors as her sister and other established singers like Suraiyya Geeta Dutt and Shamshad Begum had left no space for othersIt was only in the late 1950s that two top music directors gave her a break Nayyar for he did not work with Lata Mangeshkar and the elder Burman who had a falling out with Ashas elder sisterLe ke pehla pehla pyar CID 1956 where Asha stood her ground with main singers Mohammed Rafi and Shamshad Begum made her a voice to look out for BR Chopras Naya Daur 1957 where she first sang for the heroine cemented her as a viable voiceIt also made her a permanent feature of Chopras films with gems like Aage bhi na jaane tu and Hum jab simatke aapki bahon mein aa gaye Waqt 1965 and Uljhan suljhe na rasta sujhe na Dhund 1973 among those standing outSD Burman used Ashas voice to good effect for Madhubala in Kishore Kumars Chalti ka naam gaadi 1958 Main sitaron ka taraana and Haal kaisa hai janaab ka as well as in Kaala Pani 1958 Achha ji main haari chalo maan jao na Kaala Bazaar 1960 Bombai Ka Babu 1960 Deewana mastana hua dil Sujata 1959 and Teen Deviyaan 1965 Arre yaar meri tum bhi ho ghazabMeanwhile RD Burman worked as an assistant to his illustrious father in the latter part of the 1950s right from his teenage days and it was only in 1959 did he get his first break for a film to be made by Guru Dutts assistant It got shelved soon after being launched Fate was still kind to him and comedian Mehmood who after being turned down by the senior Burman on his film offer chose the son insteadChhote Nawab 1961 was RD Burmans first solo movie and though it did not make waves he was a music composer in his own right His hour would strike with Teesri Manzil 1966 for which hero Shammi Kapoor producer Naseer Hussain and director Vijay Anand sought to take the credit for his selection though Burman himself said that it was lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri who had recommended himAnd of the films soundtrack the duets O haseena zulfonwali jaanejahan O mere sona re and Aaja aaja main hoon pyar tera showcased Asha ably complementing Rafi and female partners Helen in the first and heroine Asha Parekh in the last two who could shimmy as energetically as Swinging ShammiIt was also the first successful collaboration between Asha and RD Burman and laid the ground for their later melodic milestones Piya tu ab to aaja Caravan 1971 the evergreen hedonistic youth anthem Dum maro dum Hare Rama Hare Krishna 1971 the uninhibited Duniya mein with Burman himself singing Apna Desh 1972 Bhali bhali si ek soorat Buddha Mil Gaya 1971 that eternal romantic ballad Chura liya hai tumne Yaadon Ki Baaraat 1973 and the bold qawwali Hai agar dushman Hum Kisi Se Kam Nahin 1977Asha and RD capped their successful 1970s by marrying in 1980 the second time for both of themBut it was not always happily ever after for them as Asha moved from her cabaretlove numbers to more nuanced stuff such as the ghazals of Umrao Jaan 1981 with the composer Khayyam convincing her to lower her voice by half a note to create magic RD Burman could not as easily jettison his westernised image where younger competitors like Bappi Lahiri were gaining groundAnd a rift started emerging as Asha was too professional not to sing for Lahiri the solos Jawaani jaaneman and Raat baaki baat baaki and the duet Aaj rapat jaye from Namak Halal 1982 were a prime exampleLater In the 1980s RD Burman and Asha woould reinvent themselves with more subtle numbers like Mera kuch saaman Khaali haath shaam aayi hai and Katra Katra Ijazat 1987 times had changed for both RD Burman grew increasingly disillusioned as he was not getting much work after some films with his music bombed Asha also had an enforced sabbatical as new filmamkers chose new singers notably Alka Yagnik and Kavita Krishnamurthy1942 A Love Story 1994 showed RD Burman still had some spark left but sadly it was a posthumous achievement And tellingly he did not use Asha in what would turn out to be his swan songYet Asha gained a fresh lease as emerging maestro AR Rehman chose her to sing for Urmila Matondkar in Rangeela 1995 and at 62 she did full justice for the 21yearold actressShe continued to make a mark take Taal 1999 and Lagaan 2001 for instance and as the years progressed she did not stop diversifying her repertoireAshas last most memorable venture was with former Australian Test cricketer Brett Lee with whom she sang Youre The One for Me Haan Main Tumhara Hoon in her 2007 album Asha and Friends Vol 1This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever