Asha Bhosle On Finding Her Voice: Imitating Singers Was My Training Ground

MUMBAI -Legendary singer Asha Bhosle once opened up about her childhood fascination with films and music, revealing how imitating various singers helped shape her unique and versatile style.

In an old interview with Waves OTT, Asha Bhosle discussed how her childhood habit of watching films, listening to songs, and mimicking the singers became a kind of informal training ground. She specifically recalled drawing inspiration from the flamboyant Portuguese-Brazilian singer Carmen Miranda, known for her high-energy acts.

“Since childhood, I had a habit of watching films, listening to songs, and imitating them. I tried to imitate the voice of a singer,” Asha said. “My family is a classical singer, but when I used to sing this song at home, my mother used to think that I was imitating a ghost. My mother used to beat me.”

Bhosle then described how this early imitation proved pivotal later in her career. She said that many years later, she was struggling to sing a song by Sir Ramchandraji to his satisfaction. “So, I thought of that woman,” Bhosle recalled. “I sang it during the take and everyone loved it. They asked me, how did you do this? I didn’t tell them that I imitated Carmen Miranda. In the same way, I changed my singing every time. I changed my voice and style.” She noted that she frequently experimented with her voice, even singing Qawwali frequently for practice.

Celebrated for her remarkable versatility, Asha Bhosle is considered among the greatest voices in Hindi cinema. Across a career of over eight decades, she has lent her voice to films and albums in various Indian languages and has been honored with multiple awards, including two National Film Awards.

Bhosle turned 92 on September 8. (IANS)