Singer Asha Bhosle died on Sunday at the age of 92 due to multi-organ failure. With a career spanning over eight decades and 12,000+ songs, she left a legacy as one of India’s most versatile voices, transforming music across genres.
Now, recalling her final memory of the singer, veteran actor Mumtaz tells HTCity, “I rushed when I heard she was hospitalised… I wanted to speak to her, but couldn’t as the doctors informed us she is critical. As I was leaving the hospital a few minutes later, her family called to say she had passed away. The next day I visited her home and when I saw Asha ji, her face had a certain noor.”
The actor-singer duo has delivered hits like Koi Shahri Babu (Loafer, 1973) and Duniya Mein Logon Ko (Apna Desh, 1972). “Ashaji would always tell me Aaja O Mere Raja (song) has been the most difficult song of her career because of the voice variations,” Mumtaz adds.
Sharing personal memories from their days as neighbours in Walkeshwar, she shares, “I remember lying in Ashaji and Lata Mangeshkar’s lap when they would do riyaz with their tanpura.”
Earlier, Mumtaz had shared a video from Diwali 2023, dancing with the late singer that had instantly gone viral. “We danced at Ashaji’s home… Jackie Shroff (actor) egged me on to get her on the floor, but she was shy,” the 78-year-old says.
Asha breathed her last at Mumbai’s Breach Candy Hospital, where she had been admitted on Saturday due to extreme exhaustion and a chest infection.
