Asha Bhosle's Platinum Jubilee Year Celebrations Asha Bhosle Almost a century ago, the musical-drama scene of India witnessed a glorious resurgence. Foremost among those who pioneered the transformation in traditional theatre music was a phenomenal singer actor - Pandit Dinanath Mangeshkar. This master of Natya Sangeet (stage theatre music), whose lifeblood propelled the revival, also created a family to become his live wire and international legacy in popular music. Asha Bhosle is his daughter; the third among Dinanath and Mai Mangeshkar’s five children who include her older sisters Lata and Meena, younger sister Usha and the youngest, her brother Hridaynath. The 8th of September 1933 saw her warbling her way into the world via Sangli in the heart of Maharashtra (western India). They lived in a home vibrant with music from one dawn to the next, where the vocal discipline of her father was the underscored tenet and the covenant. Asha’s training began as soon as she could utter her first syllable and continued with her father until his passing. Later, even as she studied with Master Navrang and to this day, she continues to hone her own impeccable style by listening to and learning from her late father’s recordings. Asha’s versatility and her amazing grasp of individual musical signatures remain unparalleled. From pop to traditional and on to classical, she adapts in the intuitive flash of pure genius complementing her own joie de vivre. It is this rare quality that has not only enraptured mammoth world audiences but captured the attention of international musicians. Her album "Legacy" had its global release in 1996 and was nominated for the Grammy award in the same year. Asha Bhosle is the only Indian singer to receive this honor. Asha’s journey as a professional musician began in 1944, when at the age of 11 she sang "Chala Chala Navabaala" for the Marathi film "Majha Baal". She completed her golden jubilee in the Indian Film Industry in 1994 and with over 13000 songs to her credit (documented up to 1994 in a book called ‘Swarasha’), she became the most ever recorded singer in the world. 9 Filmfare (Indian equivalent of the Oscar) awards and a host of other awards including 2 National awards from the Indian Government, Doctorates from the Universities of Jalgaon and Amravati, 14 Maharashtra State Government awards, the 1997 and 2001 MTV Viewers Choice award, 4 Channel V awards, the Freddie Mercury award, the Sur Singar award and the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement award are a few of the accolades Asha has received in her glorious career. Asha embodies the Renaissance Woman – the ever evolving professional, the homemaker, the mother, the student and teacher and friend – all ideal, all devoted and daring, dedicated and downright disciplined. Each moment brims over, a lively cascade that laughs as it sings. For, such is the spirit of the journeying pioneer and such the call of the muse pursued. The journey continues... 8th September 2007, marks Asha Bhosle's 74th Birthday. This living legend of our time enters her Platinum Jubilee Year. (Article contributed by Smt. Lajwanti Gupta) Also visit: http://web.mac.com/bhosle/iWeb/Site/Welcome.html