City mourns Asha who powered Tolly all-time hits

KOLKATA: Bengal paused this Sunday as the voice that breathed life into the poignant ‘Jete dao amay deko na' fell silent, marking the solemn closure of a seven-decade musical love affair with Asha Bhosle. As a ‘ganda-bandh shagird' of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan with an enviable repertoire of basic songs, Bhosle transcended the role of a playback singer to become an honorary citizen of the Bengali musical imagination, bridging the gap between traditional classicism and modern playfulness.For many, she remained a singer for all seasons. Autumn felt incomplete without a new Asha record playing at pandals. Her voice echoed the humidity of the monsoon and the crispness of winter. Though not a native speaker, her dedication to Bengali phonetics has often been discussed. For her 1980 recordings of Rabindra Sangeet, she undertook a year of rigorous preparation. “In 1979, the music label asked me to record 14 Tagore songs. For a year, she listened to my cassette while travelling in her car in Mumbai. In 1980, she recorded the songs in Kolkata over seven days. Once it was over, she happily told everyone that she had successfully copied me. We bonded well during this project. Later, when my husband and elder daughter died in a plane crash, she came down personally to be with me. I remember her saying, ‘Earlier you used to do the riyaaz for two hours daily. Now increase it to four’,” recalls singer Sanghamitra Gupta. This commitment to authenticity was a career-long hallmark. During the 2007 ‘Panchyakanya' programme, audiences were stunned by her flawless delivery of ‘Jogote anando joggye', ‘Tomar ei jhorna tolaye’ and ‘Chokkhe amar trishna'. Organiser Shouvik Dasgupta of Indo-Occidental Symbiosis noted that people could not tell she was not a native Bengali. "Her versatility was such that even those who were not connoisseurs enjoyed Rabindra sangeet,” Dasgupta said.Her collaborations with legendary composers such as Hemanta Mukherjee, Salil Chowdhury and Sudhin Dasgupta produced a repertoire that still stands as a benchmark of melodic sophistication. Her duets with Manna Dey, including ‘Pagla garod kothae achhe’ from Arabinda Mukherjee’s ‘Mouchak’, remain an important part of Bengali film history. Almost every major heroine in Bengal had a Bhosle song picturised on her. Nachiketa Ghosh's ‘Aaj dujone mondo hole' for ‘Fariyad' was filmed on Suchitra Sen; Debosree Roy had ‘Katha hoyechhilo' in ‘Troyee'; Aparna Sen had ‘Tolo chhinobina' in ‘Ekanta Apan'; Sudhin Dasgupta composed ‘Kon se alor swapno niye' for the ‘Protham Kadamphul' scene with Tanuja and ‘Sagar dake' with Aparna Sen for ‘Jiban Saikate'.Her partnership with RD Burman was instrumental in shaping modern Bengali film music by blending traditional melodies with contemporary sounds. Composer Shiladitya Chaudhury said their early courtship at the Southern Avenue lake even inspired the classic ‘Sandha belae tumi ami dujone'. Abhijit Dasgupta, Pancham's uncle, said that SD Burman has died in 1975. In 1980, Pancham informed his father of the decision to marry Asha and asked if he has any objections. Dasgupta's father had none. "His mother was seriously unwell then. My mother got a silver sindoor box from Gariahat and applied it on her parting when she first came to our Kolkata house on 36/2 Southend Park," Dasgupta said.Bhosle's ability to navigate complex arrangements — from the Western-influenced jazz of ‘Na na kache eshona' to the soulful ‘Phule gandha nei' — set her apart. Singer Dibyendu Mukherjee said: "No one could sing Western Jazz and Rhythm and blues influenced Bengali songs the way she did. A song like ‘Na na kache eshona’ is a perfect example of that. In songs such as ‘Phule gandha nei’, she revealed a reflective and soulful side, while tracks like ‘Ekta Deshlai Kathi Jwalao’, ‘Moyna balo tumi’, ‘Chokhe naame brishti’, ‘Katha diye ele na’, and ‘Sandhya belay tumi ami’ showcased her range across playfulness, longing, melancholy, and quiet intimacy."Yet this formidable body of work did not stop her from agreeing to sing for a young and then-unknown composer-duo from Bengal. In 2013, Sourendro-Soumyojit approached her to lend her voice to 'Jeno carshede’ - penned by Srijato for Sanjoy Nag's 'Parapaar' - that needed her husky, dulcet pitch. “Before recording, she learnt the song and picked up details about the Bengali phonetics just like a child. She reminded us that for her and Lata Mangeshkar, any composer teaching a new song is regarded as the teacher. Age or experience doesn’t matter,” said Sourendra. When she learnt that the duo had not brought their own instruments for rehearsal, she offered them the harmonium once used by SD Burman. “It was wrapped in a cotton cloth with one marigold on top. She instructed us to do ‘pranam’ before opening it since it belonged to Burman Dada Senior. She told us that RD also used it. While using it, I was surprised that it had no volume. She said it was a composers’ harmonium whose volume is low so that it doesn’t disturb the composer when it is played. When she came for our World Music Day concert in 2019, it was the only occasion in her career when she didn’t have her or Pancham’s band along with her on stage. Instead, she sang solo on stage with me performing on the piano and Soumyojit guiding her,” he added. Bhosle was also known to be an excellent cook, and stories of musicians relishing her food are plentiful. “She had a friend in Kolkata, Mili-di, who she would call up to revise the Bengali recipes in case she forgot the order of adding coconut to the Bengali-style chingrimalai kari,” Soumyojit said. Sarod player Aninda Banerjee has stories of her as a food connoisseur. That was at the California residence of Ustad Ali Akbar Khan – who was his guru. “I remember my guru had cooked Daal, catfish and chicken which she savoured. I was not present when the ganda bandh ceremony had happened. But I was there are a few occasions of their rehearsals for the 1997 'Legacy’ album. It became the first Indian album to receive a Grammy nomination. She could pick up difficult compositions and melodies. She was musically so sharp that Khansahib used to say she was more versatile than Lataji,” Banerjee recalled. Bhosle was also a purist who disliked excessive post-production. Working on her final Bengali puja song — ‘Pujoye Asha' — in 2018 at age 85, she would check if her voice sounded right. “Even in the midst of recording, she would gently check if her voice was sounding right. She was nearly 85 at the time and yet her versatility remained untouched. She was also very particular about authenticity — she disliked the idea of excessive post-production, preferring to re-record a song rather than leave it to be ‘fixed’ later," said Chaudhury.Even musicians who never interacted with her personally have felt her impact deeply. Singer Iman Chakraborty said, “Every time I watch recordings of her shows on YouTube, I get inspired by her fearlessness on stage and her audience connect. The high-energy performance I do on stage is completely inspired by her scintillating stage show. Artists don’t die and I will celebrate her life forever,” Chakraborty said.