Greeting her Happy Birthday on her 80th Anniversary
Two music directors – OP Nayyar and RD Burman – are credited with the making of Asha Bhosle. Since everyone says this, I am not going to question it, but my own preference is different. RD Burman-Asha Bhosle is essentially a post-69 phenomenon, when music was RD Burman-ised, to which I do not relate much. As for OP Nayyar, my judgement was coloured by the complete absence of Lata Mangeshkar from his music. He was rehabilitated in my esteem because of Rafi for whom he gave some of his greatest songs. If I make a selection of the best songs of Asha Bhosle, it would be dominated by SD Burman. When I wrote a post on my favourite ‘special’ Asha Bhosle songs, four out of nine film songs were by SD Burman – Ab ke baras bhej bhaiya ko babul, Tujhe mili roshni mujhko andhera, Koi aya dhadkan kahti hai and Dhalki jaye chunariya hamari ho Ram. I find that there are still a large number of great Asha Bholse songs by SD Burman deserving a separate post.
Asha Bhosle reaches an important milestone today as she turns 80. Until the terrible tragedy in her life when she lost her daughter last October, she was very active on TV music reality shows. I am an inveterate fan of Lala Mangeshkar’s music, but I always looked for Asha Bhosle’s shows on TV. She is more natural and spontaneous than her celebrated elder sister. Her zest for life and enthusiasm was unbelievable; though her singing assignments dwindled, her voice retained its timbre and she would sportingly break into Ayi re ayi re rangeela re (Rangeela) or Zara sa jhoom lun to (Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge), giving the younger singers a huge complex.
She remained in the shadows of Lata Mangeshkar for long. SD Burman’s hiatus with Lata for about five years (1958-62) gave a Godsend opportunity to Asha Bhosle, when she became his lead singer. This period saw some incredibly sweet songs which represent to my mind her best and also among the best songs of SD Burman. After covering SD Burman’s songs with Geeta Dutt, Rafi and Mukesh, I am delighted to present my favourite Asha Bhosle songs by SD Burman as my greetings on her 80th birthday.
1. Chhayi kari badariya bairaniya ho Ram from Jeevan Jyoti (1953), lyrics Sahir Ludhiyanvi
I find that SD Burman’s association with Asha Bhosle started as early as 1952 in the film Lal Kunwar. But Chhayi kari badariya from Jeevan Jyoti a year later is an incredibly sweet song. It is originally sung by Lata Mangeshkar in the film, but this version was mentioned by Mr Venkataraman in his comments on the Best songs of 1953. We do not know the background of the ‘cover version’ – whether it was recorded for the film but not used. But it is so good that probably nothing much would have been lost had this version been used instead of Lata’s, but obviously this was unthinkable at the time.
2. Phool gendwa na maro dar jaungi from Funtoosh (1956), lyrics Sahir Ludhyanvi
SD Burman takes the sthayee of this traditional Bhairvi thumri and gives it a different twist for Asha Bhsole. Much later Roshan would create an outstanding composition for this thumri in the voice of Manna Dey in Dooj Ka Chand (1964).
3. Dil laga ke kadar gayi pyari from Kala Pani (1958), lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri
Now the period of great SD Burman-Asha Bhosle collaboration starts with a vengeance. If Lata Mangeshkar is not there, so what? Asha Bhosle is now the lead singer and what gems he gives. One of the greatest mujra songs with beautiful picturisation. The client Dev Anand is in his elements, interspersing the courtesan’s song with with bols of tabla (A trivia: Did you know that the bols are in the voice of SD Burman himself?)
4. Nazar lagi raja tore bangle par from Kala Pani (1958)
SD Burman creates another iconic mujra song in the film, which I just can’t leave out.
5. Chanda re chanda re chhupe rahna from Lajwanti (1958), lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri
Lajwanti had another outstanding Asha Bhosle song Koi aya dhadkan kahti hai. Just shows that while Lata Mangeshkar’s exit cracked C Ramchandra, it virtually had no effect on SD Burman. Here this combination gives an extremely melodious lori.
6. Kali ghata chhaye mora jiya tadpaye from Sujata (1959), lyirics Majrooh Sultanpuri
SD Burman had the unique capacity to create songs in different voices in the same film, each of which would become iconic. What do you say to the phenomena – his own Sun mere bandhu re, Talat Mahmood’s Jalte hain jiske liye, Geeta Dutt’s Nanhi kali sone chali, discussed earlier, and then an Asha Bholse song worthy to be included in this list.
7. Dekhane mein bhola hai dil ka salona Bambai Ka Babu (1960), lyrics Majrooh Sultanpuri
Giggling girlie group teasing a city bred dandy was never better.
8. Sach hue sapne tere jhoom le O man mere from Kala Bazaar (1960), lyrics Shailendra
I think Subodh used the word ‘jhoomna’ earlier to describe some songs. You decide whether it is Asha Bhosle’s singing or SD Burman’s music which makes your heart sway.
9. O panchhi pyare sanjh sakaare from Bandini (1963), lyrics Shailendra
Creating one iconic song can be an achievement for a life time. But in Bandini you had SD Burman’s own O re majhi mere sajan hain us paar, Mukesh’s O janewale ho sake to laut ke aana, Lata Mangehskar’s Jogi jabse tu aya mere dware, Manna Dey’s Mat ro mata laal tere bahutere, Asha Bhosle’s Ab ke baras bhej bhiya ko babul. When Canasya described SD Burman as the greatest music director of the Golden Era, it was not without reason. Lata Mangeshkar had returned to his fold, but SD Burman had room for a second great song by Asha Bhosle, (giving a message as to who needed whom?). While Ab ke baras bhej is by the solitary female prisoner on the grinding wheel, singing this heart-rending song of hopelessness, O pancchi pyare is by a group of female prisoners, engaged in a variety of womanly chores – grinding, pounding, sowing, washing – to relieve the tedium. This one is peppy on the surface, but melancholic all the same. Presenting two contrasting songs by female prisoners is a directorial feat of Bimal Roy, matched by SD Burman-Asha Bhosle.
10. Tum jiyo hazaron saal saal ke din ho pachas hazar from Sujata (1959), lyrics
Finally wishing her to live long and spread her zest for life to her listeners and viewers, in her own voice.
{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
AK,
Great!
Absolutely great!
SDB had this ability to extract the best out of his singers provided they cooperated and Asha was, one, that type of singer always ready to her improvise.
All the song are gems , Phool gendhava was new to me
Let me add 2 more beautiful gems before some one else does it.
One more from Kala Pani, yes but it is just too good,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=nrgaoGcDkTM
This one is from Nau Do Gyarah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDJCfRVq1wU&feature=player_embedded
Mumbaikar 8,
Thanks a lot. Both the songs you have mentioned are outstanding. Dhalti jaye chuariya is one of the best SDB-Asha Bhosle songs. I had used it in my earlier post on Ash Bhosle, and I have mentioned this song in the write-up.
AK,
I apologize, I missed it in my impatience of getting to the songs.
I forgot to add my greetings to Ashaji.
Happy Birthday Ashaji.
AK ji,
A good post. SDB chose Asha only as a stop gap arrangement,as he knew Lota(Lata,as pronounced by him always) would surely resume singing for him. luckily for Asha during this period,the number of films of SDB were considerably the maximum and so Asha was very close to the number of songs she sang for SDB,compared to Lata. See this statistics- (for only SDB)
Total films- Lata-56 Asha- 54
Solos- Lata-132 Asha- 75
Duets etc- Lata- 50 Asha- 58
Total- Lata- 182 Asha-133
you will also observe that SDB probably considered Asha’s voice suitable for Duets etc,rather than Solos,thus she sang more duets than Lata.( This was the case of Asha with almost every Composer that they used her more in duets rather than solos).
I personally feel Asha’s versatality in singing was anyday much better than Lata.
-AD
Arunji,
Thanks for this interesting statistics. While the number of films are comparable, her solos are far less than Lata Mangeshkar’s, but in duets she overtakes her. There may be a point in what you are saying about the composers considering her more suitable for duets. Now that you mention it, let me present an outstanding Mukesh-Asha Bhosle duet from Forty Days, composed by Babul, which I heard for the first time very recently:
Kaho aa ke bahaar kare mera singaar
SoY and Dusted Off have done a great job of celebrating Asha Bhosale’s 80th birthday, in very distinctive styles, that brings out Asha’s inherent positives in terms of inherent singing traits and cultivated skills.
I , for one, like Arunji, would choose Asha Bhosale songs, for the variety she brings to the songs. And when presented with equal terms, would match Lata chord for chord. If Lata was naturally sweeter than Asha, that is God’s making.
Asha seeming to be a preferred choice for duets, is an interesting observation and some one knowledgeable on the technicalities of music,needs to fathom the reasons thereof.
Thank you for those lovely songs, AK! I’ve made no bones about the fact that I really like Asha a lot, and even though most people tend to associate her only with OP Nayyar or RD Burman, I think she sang some fabulous songs for other composers too – Ravi, Madan Mohan, and SD Burman, of course.
Besides the songs you’ve chosen (and I like all of them, a lot), here’s another one I love. Dil ki manzil kuchh aisi hai manzil, from Tere Ghar ke Saamne:
Madhu, I have seen your post on Asha Bholse in different moods, and I am also aware of your of preference for her. I make no bones that I am not a great fan of Asha Bhosle per se, I am very partisan about Lata Mangeshkar. Though I cannot say the same about the two as persons. My top Asha Bhosle’s songs are mostly by SD Burman. I discovered more of her Madan Mohan songs by Harvey’s post on Madan Ki Asha. So we are on the same page on this. The song you have mentioned was new to me. Its picturisation is beautiful, of the type which made her associated with night club songs.
I join SoY community in wishing Asha many happy returns. SDB considered her his “Taraana”, according to one of her interviews (that is, free form melody). In another place SDB praised her voice control, as in the ‘Jewel Thief’ number “Raat Akeli hai”, saying that she could express joy and sorrow in the same breath. Jeevan Jyoti and Lajwanti had several outstanding Asha solos. But I find myself agreeing with both Arunkumar Deshmukhji and Madhuji. Asha’s duets in Insaan Jaag Utha are exceptional. And SDB’s night club numbers for Asha are more melodious (minimalist instrumentation that highlights the vocal nuances) right from Taxi Driver to Jewel Thief/Talaash/Sharmili (and Tere Mere Sapne – the dance numbers for Hema Malini – theses were not night club songs). Here are two links, one to Jeene do aur jiyo (Taxi Driver, 1954)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49DWW2B0hGE
and another to “Pyar ne kitne sapne dekhe”, the song that was recorded for but excluded from ‘Funtoosh, 1956’:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atQ6lQx3uJM
After posting my previous comment I began having an uneasy feeling of having left out something. Finally, I realized that I had missed thanking AKji for mentioning my name above (see the text accompanying “O panchi pyare” above) and for the wonderful SDB-Asha compilation that aptly complements his earlier post on Asha without duplication. I fully agree with AKji that Asha’s best came under the SDB baton. Surprisingly, however, in her published interviews or public utterances Asha rarely seems to acknowledge this. The perspective of artists frequently differs from that of fans. But in this case, Asha probably prefers playing to the gallery, that is, looking at which MDs gave her the greatest popularity.
Like Asha, Talat and Manna Dey also did not include SDB among their top MDs, preferring SJ over him, although I regard their songs for SDB more highly. The reason, I think, is that, except Kishore and Hemant, no other leading HFM singer had a chart topper with SDB. (Talat forgot, as did Amin Sayani, that “Jayen to jayen kahan” topped Binaca Geetmala in 1954! And Asha probably forgets that her first Binaca topper was from Chalti ka Nam Gaadi.) I once attended a Talat concert in the 1970s. He sang all his popular numbers including those from Taxi Driver, Sujata, Shahenshah, etc. But it was “Andhe jahan ke” (Patita) and “Ai mere dil kahin aur chal” (Daag) that brought the house down. I had been fortunate enough to listen to Manna Dey couple of times in concerts. The first time it was in 1970-71, I think. He sang all his popular songs including “Tere naina talaash Karen” which was fresh at that time. But the greatest encores were for “Ae bhai, jara dekh ke chalo” and “Mere bhains ko danda kyun mara”. No wonder Talat and Manna Dey considered their association with SJ more rewarding, and Asha feels more comfortable with the names of OPN, RDB and Khayyam among mentors. (Hats off to Lata then for considering “Alla tero naam” as one of her best.) In this respect I found Suman Kalyanpur an exception. In one of her interviews she gives due credit to SDB:
http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/article2796812.ece
Let me end the post with one Asha song (with Shammi Kapoor) from Jeevan Jyoti (1953) – “Chandni ki palki mein baithker koyii aane waala hai” – its tune has several pieces reminiscent of later SDB songs:
Canasya,
The famous artistes having partial amnesia about the people that have contributed to their making is perhaps strategic rather than inadvertent. Since the fans have no interest in politics, their view is bound to be more objective. I am happy that many readers are one on SD Burman’s role in the fame of Asha Bhosle.
The way you refer to Allah tero naam might create an erroneous impression that it is SDB creation. In a way one can trace it to him as Jaidev had been his assistant.
Thanks for the link of the excellent interview of Suman Kalyanpur, and another melodious song from Jeevan Jyoti.
AK Ji,
I always felt that ALL the popular singers have ‘clay feet’. Their opinions keep on changing,depending on the requirement of the times prevailing.
I remember reading somewhere an opinion of a famous critic that he never considered SDB as an original or talented composer. At best,according to him,SDB was a lucky composer that many of his songs were popular. But,he said, can anyone single out an all time iconic song,say like ‘Ayega aanewala’ or ‘baharen phir bhi aayengi’, from SDB ? A song where no one will defer in appreciation ?
A singer like Lata did not select even a single song in her 10 best for Silver jubilee celebrations,from CR or Anil Biswas !
I think each singer has a comfort zone and songs falling in that zone come out the best,like sad songs from Kishore or talat,salicious or ‘come hither’ type songs from Asha, melodious songs from Lata,Bhajans from hemant or pradeep etc.
Then again many opinions with many people. To each his own.
Songs,singers and composers are a subject very close to every music lover and he holds his fixed opinions close to his heart very firmly in respect of his favourites.
I dont think there is anything like a general concensus about a singer or a composer. I dont think it is possible.
-AD
Arunji,
This ‘famous critic’ you are talking about seems to be too opinionated. I am sure SD Burman created not one or two but dozens of iconic songs which would be accepted by everyone. Does he also question the iconic status of Mera sundar sapna beet gaya, Ye raat ye chandni phir kahan, Tum na jane kis jahan mein kho gaye, Jogi jabse tu aya mere dware, Mana janab ne pukara nahi, Tere bin soone nayan hamaare, Kanton se kheench ke ye anchal?
Taste in music is indeed subjective, but in that case the person should not pass a definitive judgement on behalf of others, which is palpably absurd. I would quite accept had he said he didn’t find any SD Burman song iconic.
AK Ji,
I certainly do not agree with the ‘famous critic’.Since his opinion was highly biased,I did not give away his name.However,critics feel that their existance is not justified unless they criticise someone !
I too subscribe to the dictum that one’s opinions should not be judgemental or they should not put down others’ opinions.
-AD
How did I miss this post?! 🙁
What a lovely celebration of Asha’s songs, AK. After going through Madhu’s post, I thought I was saturated, but here is another collection that I will savour.
I must confess to a partiality for Geeta Dutt, though ironically, most of my all-time favourite songs seem to be by Lata. And then again, how do I not like Asha? I’m glad that they were all there to sweeten our lives, even if they make our choice of ‘favourite singer’ so difficult!
S-J were more popular (by saying that, I’m not taking away from their obvious talent), but my top three composers will always be Salil Choudhary, Madan Mohan and SD Burman (in no particular order). So this list comes very close to my heart.
I love this song from Lajwanti.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCmpPaLSMLM
Here is an unusual number from House No.44; I like the way her voice ebbs and flows in this composition.
One duet with two of my favourite singers: Jaanu jaanu ri from Insaan Jaag Utha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pk0xuD6KSdo
Another duet with a singer that Asha once described as her favourite:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuMgYRG3vPU
Ashokji, the critic you speak about is Raju Bharatan, is he not? Enough said. 🙂
Anu,
I have used Koi aya dhadkan kahti hai from Lajwanti in my earlier post on Asha Bhosle. This is the best song from the film, and one of the best of SDB-Asha Bhosle. Janu janu re has also figured earlier, in the post on Minoo Mumtaz.
I heard the night club song from House No. 44 for the first time. It was lost among the other famous songs by Lata Mangeshkar, Hemant Kumar and Kishore Kumar. Thanks a lot.
Chhod do anchal is one of the best of Kishore Kumar-Asha Bhosle duets. May be sometime I would look at duets in different combinations. This is another iconic song. So much for the ‘famous critic’. I don’t think it could be Raju Bharatan, he did not make such outlandish statements. (You meant Arunji, and not ‘Ashokji’?)
Sorry for the mistake. Yes, I did mean Arunji. And yes, Raju Bharatan is my pet peeve – unbiased he is not! But we will agree to disagree. 🙂
He does write interesting stories. His advantage was that he was omnipresent. No recording, no affair, no break up, no patch up – nothing happened without him being present at the scene. I hope Arunji now reveals the name of the ‘famous critic’.
Akji,
First let me convey, through this post, my belated wishes to Asha Bhosle on her 80th birthday anniversary.
My tight travel schedule did not permit me to respond earlier.
Out of the 75 solos, 14 songs (4 in an earlier post and 10 in this post) have been covered by you. Another 6 were posted in the comments section, making it 20 in all, out of 75. The selection of songs was good and was some of the best Asha had rendered for S D Burman. Thank you for including Chhayi kari badariya. Kali ghata chhaye mora jiya tadpaye and Sach hue sapne tere are also my favourites.
Out of the 58 duets etc. mentioned by Arunji, 6 were all female duets, 4 with Geeta Dutt, one with Usha Mangeshkar and one with Sudha Malhotra. Another two were triplets, one with Md.Rafi and Sudha Malhotra and the other with Lata Mangeshkar and Usha Mangeshkar. Asha also had a duet with Kishore Kumar in the Bengali version of Aradhana.
The much talked about fallout between S D Burman and Lata Mangeshkar took place in 1957 after the recording of the song ‘Pag thumak chalat balkhaye haye saiyyan kaise dharun dhir’ for the film Sitaron se aage. S D Burman, on second thought, wanted the song to be recorded again. But Lata Mangeshkar was to leave for a foreign tour and could not give any fresh dates. A peeved S D Burman wanted to rerecord the song in the voice of Asha Bhosle, but Asha Bhosle could not render the song the way S D Burman wanted. So the original Lata Mangeshkar’s version was retained. (Source: S D Burman, the world of his music by Khagesh Dev Burman)
As mentioned by you Asha Bhosle sang her first song for S D Burman in 1952 for Laal Kunwar. Prior to this film, Lata Mangeshkar rendered16 solos, 3 duets and 1 more song (total 20 songs) for S D Burman. Geeta Dutt too had 20 songs, Shamsad Begum had 7 to 8 songs during this period and other female singers (including Suraiya) had about 10 songs.
Before the Lata Mangeshkar’s fall out (1952 to 1957) with S D Burman, Asha Bhosle had rendered about 30 solos, 11 duets and 3 other songs for S D Burman (total 44). During the same period Lata Mangeshkar had rendered 46 solos, 5 duets and one more song for S D Burman (total 52). Geeta Dutt sang 20 songs, Shamsad Begum rendered roughly 8 to 9 songs and other female singers sang 6 or more under S D Burman’s baton.
Before the reunion (1958 to 1962), Asha Bhosle had rendered 25 solos, 29 duets and 4 other songs (total 58). During this period Geeta Dutts sang roughly a dozen songs for S D Burman , Shamsad Begum had only one. Other singers had 10 songs, out of which Suman Kalyanpur sang 4 to 5 songs.
But in the period that followed (1963 to 1976), Asha Bhosle had only 20 solos, 10 duets and one more song for S D Burman (total 31), whereas Lata Mangeshkar sang 68 solos, 25 duets and 5 more songs (total 98).
Prior to the fall out Asha Bhosle (44 songs) had rendered only few songs less than Lata Mangeshkar, for S D Burman. But after the reunion S D Burman gave Lata Mangeshkar more than 3 times the songs he gave Asha Bhosle!
S D Burman did give Asha Bhosle some beautiful numbers during this period, which otherwise might have gone to Lata Mangeshkar. Asha was outnumbered after the reunion.
Till 1956-1957 we find Sahir Ludhyanvi penned the lyrics for most of S D Burman’s films, and after 1957 Majrooh Sultanpuri took the place of Sahir Ludhyanvi. The three songs posted by Canasyaji, the two by Mumbaikar8, and the one by Madhuji made good listening. Interestingly all the three songs posted by Canasyaji were penned by Sahir ludhyanvi, and the both the songs posted by Mumbaikar8 were penned by Majrooh Sultanpuri and the one presented by Madhuji was penned by Hasrat Jaipuri. You (AKji) have mentioned Shailendra as the lyricist of the film Sujata. Was it Shailendra or Majrooh Sultanpuri? The songs posted by Anuji, were penned Sahir(1), Majrooh(2) and Shailendra(1).
Madhuji’s selection of song from Tere Ghar ke Samne shows early signs of R D Burman’s influence. After Chhote Nawab (1961), R D Burman assisted his father in several films like Bandini, Tere Ghar ke Samne, Benazir etc.
An interesting trivia:
Asha Bhosle was required to laugh in the song Janu Janu re, which she sang with Geeta Dutt. Asha in one of her interviews says that S D Burman was not impressed with the way Asha laughed. He instructed Asha to draw in her breath after laughing, and told her that it will sound more natural. Asha says when she did likewise the effect was splendid and from then on her laughter became quite famous.
@ Venkataramanji,, how can u derive such absolute analysis !?! Wonderful..
Venkataramanji,
Thanks a lot for this enormous statistics. Two things stand out. SD Burman’s first preference was Lata Mangeshkar, and post patch-up he seems to be making for the lost four years.
If we look at the songs he gave to them per film, Lata Mangeshkar had 3.25 songs, whereas Asha Bhosle had 2.46. This is not such a huge difference in numbers. So the difference boils down to the impact made by the two singers – it is here that Lata far outweighs Asha Bhosle according to me.
Thanks a lot for pointing out the error in the lyricist for Sujata. It is indeed Majrooh Sultanpuri.
Like Anu I too wonder ‘how did I miss this post?’ I think it was because of the similarity of the image at the beginning of this post and the last one. I didn’t realise that SoY had a new post!
Song number 1 is a real find and reminds me of the email discussion between AK, Mr Venkataraman and me about Chaiti. I think there would be enough songs in Chaiti/Kajri/Sawan/Hori genre to make up a full post. Worth a try.
AK has included one song from Lajwanti in the post and mentioned another one. Another of my old favourites is ‘Kuchh din pehle ek taal mein..’ http://youtu.be/VQ-Y9bx5yWQ. Asha’s voice suits this song beautifully, particularly the starting part of the stanzas. There may be a case for a post on ‘Tell a story’ songs.
Another SDB-Asha song, with a clear imprint of the younger Burman, enjoyed its fifteen minutes of fame with the release of Jewel Thief – mostly thanks to the gamine charm of Tanuja: http://youtu.be/Zu5RqqDRX2g
I have had the privilege of spending a couple of hours in the company of Ashaji when she visited Punjab on the launch of a museum of Sikh history. I second AK’s opinion that she is indeed a very warm hearted person. I join the chorus to wish her a very happy birthday.
This is amazing you always keep writing valuable things on your blog, m your big follower and we all love indian evergreen music also i created my official website of bollywood: http://lyricsmusic.org/
Double treat! ( hoping it has not been mentioned before)
Waheeda Rehman’s graceful dance
and dekhne me bhola hai’s origin
Rojulu Marayi – EruvAka sagaroo rannoo chinnananna
Mumbaikr8
This is a fantastic discovery. Waheeda Rahman’s dance must be one of the best of her career. SD Burman’s adaptation is far better than the original.
Here is the Tamil version of the same song from the film Kaalam Maaripocchu
Venkataramanji,
It is too good, especially Waheeda Rahman’s dance. Thanks a lot. Was one remake of the other or dubbed or adaptation?
The Tamil film Kaalam Maarippcchu (1956) was the remake of the Telugu film Rojulu Marayi (1955). Waheeda Rehman’s dance was indeed graceful and excellent. She had not yet become an actress then, she was making her appearances in films as dancer. Probably, today they would have called her ‘item girl’! Both versions were sung by Jikki and the composer was Master Venu.
Venkataramanji,
Thanks a lot for the information.
Ah, a post on my favorite female singer with one of my favorite music directors! How did I miss this? So many wonderful songs have been mentioned, but hopefully there’s some room and appetite for a few more:
Chanda ki chandini ka jadoo (Sitaron se Aage)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFWAKJCjxQo
Ta thai tat thai (Tere mere sapne)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YycesO7kkw
So ja re soja (Jeevan Jyoti)
I’m cheating by including this since it’s a “version” song, but it’s too beautiful to exclude on such technicalities, IMO 🙂
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eI5Qqlh96AM
Shalini,
I had heard only Ta thai before. So ja re so ja is a wonderful song, so what if it is a version song. I have myself included a version song in my list. Thanks for sharing this.
Beautiful article and a latecomer me.
But as is with my nature, I cannot desist myself from spotting something which is amiss.
1. ‘Aaj kal parso me phoole jab sarso’ from ‘Sitaron se aage’
2. ‘Tujhe mili roshni’ from ‘Apna haath Jagannath’ (though it is covered in another article on Asha).
The information and the depth of knowledge of some participants makes me envious.
Sharmaji,
Thanks a lot for your compliments. Aaj kal parson is a beautiful song, with gorgeous dance prelude by Vyjayanthimala. Heard fro the first time. Thanks.
AK ji,
you may consider the song aye se mein kochu kaha nahi jaye from bombai ka babu. Asha bhonsle’s rendering was simply haunting and picturisation on Suchitra sen masterly.
SP Sinha,
Yes, it is a very good song, but which one in my list would you like to replace?
I have a query. Do we have the exact count of
1) Songs sung by Asha Bhosle under the baton of S.D. Burman
2) Songs sung by Lata Mangeshkar under the baton of S.D. Burman
Kausik,
Welcome to SOY. Both the data must be available with +/- 5% accuracy. Lata Mangeshkar’s songs under the baton of SD Burman mentioned on a respected site is 182. I could not locate similar data for Asha Bhosle’s songs by SD Burman, but I am sure many readers, who compile such data, must have it. My guess is her songs should be 200+. I think that should suffice for your query.