There's no better word than 'bad' to describe the feature 'FLASH BACK' on songstress Asha Bhosle's illustrious playback singing career telecast on saturday, 10th September 2011, on 24x11 channel of NDTV. The feature not only showed 'Dilbar Dilse Pyaare' from the film 'Caravan' in league of sensous songs sung by Asha Bhosle when it is actually sung by Lata Mangeshkar but even omitted some of the milestones in Asha Bhosle's playback singing career. For example, if 'Naya Daur' launched the career of Asha Bhosle it also brought to fore some great musical associations of the songstress with the likes of O. P. Nayyar and Ravi. It is unclear why Ravi's contribution to the musical career of Asha Bhosle was completely overlooked. How can one forget Asha crooning an elegant ' Uljhan Suljhe Naa' for Zeenat Aman in B. R. Chopra's ' thriller 'Dhund' that was based on Agatha Christie's ' The Unexpected Guest' to 'Aagey Bhi Jaane Naa tu' from 'Waqt' for Ravi. Outside B. R. Chopra banner too the duo dished out unforgettable melodies in ' Do Badan' - remember ' Jab Chali Thandi Hawa'? And if O. P. Nayyar was remembered why were his evergreen romantic Asha -Rafi duets from 'Ek Musafir Ek Hasina' overlooked? The feature acknowledged the musical association of Asha Bhosle with non Hindi composers/singers/bands like Boy George and Code Red but didnt acknowledge some of her associations that brought out songs that are ageless and if I may humbly say could have only been sung by Asha Bhosle. Take for example her association with Sudhir Phadke in Marathi which gave birth to evergreen songs of ' Jagachya Pathivar' - whether it is ' Vikat ghetala Shyam' or ' Nach nachuni' both penned by G.D Madgulkar, also known as modern day Valmiki - they are simply unforgettable gems in the songstress illustious careers. And how can one forget Asha Bhosle singing 'Nach Re Mora' for P. L. Deshpande which till date is a household nursery rhyme or ' Gori Gori Paan' for Srinivas Khale who passed away recently. Then ofcourse the semi classical songs 'Sakhi Ga Murli Mohan Mohi Mana' or ' Nandalala' from the national award winning Marathi movie ' Dharmakanya' composed by her brother Pt. Hridayanath Mangeshkar and penned by none other than P. Savlaram, one of the finest Marathi poets. Then how could one possibly overlook 'Paan Khaye Sayya Hamaro' composed by Shanker Jaikishen, penned by Shailendra and ofcourse sung by Asha Bhosle for the movie ' Teesri Kasam' or a sensous 'Mujhe pyaas aisi pyaas lagi hai' from 'Andaaz'. Or can we forget 'Maang Mein Bharlo Rang Sakhi Ri' or 'Raat Bhi Hai Kuch Bheegi Bheegi' from 'Mujhe Jeene Do', composed for her by Jaidev. Then the Gazals she sung for for Naushad for a Doordarshan programme like ' Maine Kaha Naa Kisise Tere Fasane Ko' or 'Salona sa sajan hai' are virtually unforgettable. Then why her finest songs for Bhappi Lahiri like those from Prakash Mehra's not so successful ' Zindagi Ek Jua' or some lesser known RD numbers which were experimental and too difficult to sing virtually squeezing out the best of Asha Bhosle's musical talent like ' Daiyya Main Yeh Kahan Aa Phasi' from 'Caravan', were overlooked remains a mystery. In the process, however, the channel ended-up handing out a raw deal to the legend and her illustrious career that spans decades and stretches beyond boundries!!
- Bhushan Sarmalkar.
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