'I Was Trembling...': Asha Bhosle Recalls Her First Time Recording As A 10-Year-Old

Singer Asha Bhosle has recorded many hits in her legendary career. However, not all sessions went as smooth as she would have expected. Recalling how the studio system and the tools were not so enhanced back when she started her singing career, Bhosle said that one of her recordings got interrupted by a cawing crow, and then later on by moving vehicles. In contrast, she marvels at how far the technology has come.

"Andheri mein inside the Mohan Studio, sets were not as empty and the shooting was going on everywhere in Mumbai. The recording was set up in a way that I was standing in the open, with a mic hanging from a tree. Inside the orchestra and the musicians had set up in the studio. We recorded the song till 4 am in the morning. The crows came and cawed and the recording was interrupted. Soon after, the vehicles started to ply and that interrupted the session. The train also began to roll...When the train used to pass through, we used to pause and then begin back the entire recording process. That has how we have managed. It was a tough time," Bhosle said in an interview with Republic Media Network.

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Bhosle was born on 8 September 1933 in Sangli, a small village in Maharashtra. Her father Dinanath Mangeshkar was a famous singer and actor. He taught her classical music at an early age. Asha Bhosle has sung more than 13,000 songs in her career from the 1940s to the 1980s. Her superhit songs in Bollywood include Aaiye Meharbaan picturised on Madhubala (Howrah Bridge, 1958) and Yeh Hai Reshmi Zulfon Ka Andhera (Mere Sanam, 1965), Aao Huzoor Tumko and many more. Her towering career is only next to her legendry sister Lata Mangeshkar's.

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In a candid conversation, Bhosle shared that she sang her first song when she was just 10 years old. She sang the song Chala Chala Nav Bala in the Marathi film Majha Bala in 1943. She recalled that when she held the mic in her hand for the first time, she was trembling.

"When I recorded my first song, I was 10 years old. I had to sing this song standing in front of the mic and I was trembling at that time, because I did not know anything then. My father had recorded his songs. Then when I sang the first song, I felt that I can sing. Didi does not only sing, I can also sing," Bhosle said, mentioning how her sister Mangeshkar was her early inspiration.