Tag : Singers

Mumbai: Intrinsically talented, both, separately and jointly, gave a new direction to Hindi film music.But to achieve this,AshaBhosle 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 Burman. And both succeeded — with a combination of luck, support, their own undeniable virtuosity, and above all, their first joint effort. AshaBhosle — who is still going strong at 90, having worked with four generations of music composers from O.P. Nayyar to A.R. 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 India. Rejected at a trial for a film in 1947 as the sound recording engineer “did not like” her voice — as of her co-singer, who happened to be Kishore Kumar! —Ashaslowly 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 others. It 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 withAsha‘s elder sister. “Le ke pehla pehla pyar” (“CID”; 1956), whereAshastood her ground with main singers Mohammed Rafi and Shamshad Begum, made her a voice to look out for; B.R. Chopra’s “Naya Daur” (1957), where she first sang for the heroine, cemented her as a viable voice. It also made her a permanent feature of Chopra’s films — with gems like “Aage bhi na jaane tu” ...