Mumbai: ‘Abhi Na Jaao Chhodkar…’ The strains of that wistful song played in the background at the Shivaji Park crematorium on Monday as hundreds of people gathered inside – and outside – to bid music legend Asha Bhosle a final sayonara.
A gun salute rang out as the last rites of Bhosle, perhaps the last of the singing greats who ruled the soundwaves for decades and still do, were held in accordance with Hindu rituals and with full state honours. Her son Anand performed the rituals.
Bhosle, one half of the legendary Mangeshkar sisters, passed away on Sunday due to multi-organ failure. She was 92 as was her Lata didi when she died in February 2022.
Priests recited mantras around the funeral pyre, decorated with vibrant yellow and orange marigolds.
Granddaughter Zanai was inconsolable. Sister Usha Mangeshkar, also a singer, and brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar, a music composer, were there too.
Among those gathered to pay their last respects to India’s singer nonpareil were Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy Chief Ministers Eknath Shinde and Sunetra Pawar, director Ramesh Sippy and actors Aamir Khan and Vicky Kaushal.
It was a moment of sorrow and song too.
Before the pyre was lit, singers Shaan, Sudesh Bhosle and Anup Jalota paid a musical tribute to the enduring legend who sang some 12,000 songs in an incredible eight-decade career that started when she was just 10.
While Sudesh Bhosle crooned ‘Zindagi Ek Safar Hai Suhana’, Shaan sang ‘Pyaar Ke Mod Pe’.
“Asha ji will always be with us. Her voice, her words, her thoughts towards life will always inspire us and there was no one like her, nor will there ever be. She was the one unique, strong-willed person who lived her life on her own terms,” Shaan said.
“And whatever tragedies happened with her, there’s no one like her who faced them with a smile, always maintaining a positive mindset, and did her work with full professionalism,” he said.
Lalit Pandit, who along with his brother Jatin composed the music for Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol’s iconic 1995 film ‘Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge’, which featured Bhosle’s popular songs ‘Zara Sa Jhoom Loon Main’ and ‘Ajnabi Mujhko Itna Bata’, said she was the last of her kind.
“She has left behind so much work in her legacy that generations can learn from it. It is true that she was the last legend and is no longer with us but she will always remain in our hearts,” he said.
And they were not the only ones. Many fans, their hands folded in prayer, were heard singing the many numbers that made Bhosle the star that she was for music lovers of all ages and through many generations.
Snatches of ‘Aaiye Meherbaan’, the languid song of love filmed on Madhubala, and ‘Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo Dil Ko’, romance of another hue pictured on Zeenat Aman many decades later, and many others, could be heard. Some softly crooned, others louder.
“I’ve been a huge fan of Asha Tai. She has had songs for every mood and occasion. Our Tai, and her songs, will live forever in our hearts,” said one ardent fan.
The irrepressible, exuberance of the versatile Bhosle, who was compelling, whether she was singing classical or cabaret, was inspirational, said another.
“Not just her songs, but her being so energetic at this age inspired me. It’s all because of her that I’m quite active even now,” added another who came with her daughter.
The fanspeak melded with the instrumental versions of many of Bhosle’s songs, right from ‘Inhi Logon Ne’ to ‘In Aankhon Ki Masti’ that played out. It was a day to remember for Mumbai.
People lined the streets, gathered on rooftops and windows, and hundreds walked along the cortege as it made its slow way from Bhosle’s home Lower Parel to Shivaji Park to accompany the city’s very own Asha Tai on her last journey.
Chants of ‘Asha Tai amar rahe’ went up in the crowds gathered for a last glimpse of the singing star who ruled playlists – and hearts – for eight decades.
A giant photograph of Bhosle, radiant in a red sari with her trademark bindi and an ornate nose ring, was placed on the flower-decked bier as the procession made its way through the streets.
Earlier in the day, Bhosle’s body, in a glass casket and draped in the tricolour, was kept at her home for mourners to pay their last respects.
