Legendary singer Asha Bhosle has lent her voice to a Bengali movie after eight years for a song in Sanjay Nag’s Parapar.
In the mid-70s to 90s, Bhosle, 81, regularly sang in Bengali films to tunes set by famous music directors like Sudhin Dasgupta, Nachiketa and Hemanta Mukherjee. Albums by R D Burman and Bhosle were also much-awaited by fans.
“We sent the scratch to Asha ji and she called back the next day. Once she [sang] the lines, I had goosebumps. I wanted some changes here and there, but couldn’t utter a word,” Sourendro of the Sourendro-Soumyajit duo, music directors of Parapar, said.
“She sensed [my hesitation] and asked what I wanted. When explained, she then rendered it exactly the way I wanted,” he said.
Soumyajit said the song retained the typical Asha Bhosle touch as in R D Burman’s Ekta Deshlai Kathi Jalao or Sandhyebelay Tumi Ami Bose Achhi of the 80s.
“It took nearly a month to complete the recording and she never failed a date,” he said.
Director Sanjoy Nag, who earlier directed Memories In March starring Deepti Naval, said the husky, dulcet pitch required for the song could not have been achieved by anybody other than Bhosle.
Besides Bhosle, Bollywood singer Papon lent his voice to the song Mukhomukhi featuring Martin Kuebert and Achim Fink.
“It is a privilege to be part of a film having Asha ji on board,” said Papon, who has sung for films like Barfi, Madras Cafe and Special 26.
Nag said his film Parapar was an eclectic mix where musicians of different genres and from different places, from Asha Bhosle to Papon, Kaushiki to Chandrani Banerjee, have sung eight tracks.
