MUMBAI:

Asha Bhosle, who has enthralled music lovers for over five decades with her songs, turned 72 on September 8 and elder sister Lata Mangeshkar said she was proud of her.

Asha, a recipient of the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award, has sung more than 20,000 songs in many languages. Among the awards the velvet-voiced Asha has received are six Filmfare Awards and the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award. “I want her to touch the sky,” said Lata Mangeshkar fondly of her younger sibling.

Asha had to move away from her sister’s shadows to prove herself. And she did it so wonderfully! She set out to do what she had to on her own. “I feel very happy when I hear her songs in her new album ‘Asha’. I’ve listened to what she has done to the ghazal legends — Mehdi Hassan, Ghulam Ali, Farida Khannum and Jagjit Singh — Asha’s singing needs no comment,” said Mangeshkar.