Political leaders, industry, fans pay last ribute to the music legend
‘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.
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 Pe, romance of another hue pictured on Zeenat Aman many decades later, and many others, could be heard. Some softly crooned, others louder.
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.
Veteran actors Asha Parekh and Helen, Ranveer Singh, Tabu, Aamir Khan, Vicky Kaushal, composer AR Rahman, cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar and political leaders Uddhav Thackeray, Praful Patel and Supriya Sule were among those who gathered at her residence.
Bhosle was a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, Dadasaheb Phalke Award and the Maharashtra Bhushan.
John Cena, Brett Lee pay their tribute
WWE icon and actor John Cena and Former Australian cricketer Brett Lee paid tribute to legendary singer Asha Bhosle after her passing on Sunday.
John Cena took to his Instagram account and shared a picture of the late singer as a mark of respect. Brett Lee also shared a series of pictures with the late singer and paid homage.
Pak actors, singers pay tribute to ‘Queen’
‘Goodbye the Queen, you’ll be missed forever as your voice was never just India’s, it was a gift to the entire world,’ reads one of the heartfelt tributes by Pakistani actors and singers to legendary Indian singer Asha Bhosle.
‘This is not just a loss for one country, but for music itself,’ Film and TV Actor Imran Abbas said in a social media post.
‘There was no one like her, and there never will be,’ he added. Singer-actor Ali Zafar, who also worked in Indian films, called her an incredible artist. Film actress Reema Khan called her “a melody that never fades and an emotion woven into the soul of music.” Actor Adnan Siddiqui, who also worked in a Hollywood film, paid tribute to the Indian legend. RJ Anoushey Ashraf shared a note on artists travelling between Pakistan and India when things weren’t so complicated. (Agencies)
