Veteran writer Raju Bharatan hits another high note with his biography on Asha Bhosle.

In his long career with the English print media, Raju Bharatan has worn many hats. At 17, he was the originator of the ‘Sunday Cryptic’ crossword in The Times of India, where he set over 5,000 crosswords. In the 1960s, he was recruited by C R Mandy, the last British editor of the The Illustrated Weekly of India, where he spent over three illustrious decades reporting on cricket, dance, music and films, before retiring as assistant editor in 1993. (Bharatan also set the Harmony crossword puzzle for several years beginning September 2004.)

His latest project is a book that released last month: Asha Bhosle: A Musical Biography. “Although writing on cricket is my passion and music is my pastime, my pastime has progressively been converted to a full-time job, so much so that I have written three musical biographies, including that of both the Mangeshkar sisters (the third being one on Naushad),” says Bharatan, who is also the author of a book titled Journey Down Melody Lane, an overview of Indian film music.

The Mangeshkar sisters—Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle—monopolised the Indian music industry for years, owing to their spectacular voices and extreme professionalism, a fact Bharatan addressed over 20 years ago in Lata Mangeshkar: A Biography. “Everything about the film industry then was casual but time was precious,” he says. “Music directors trusted only these two singers to deliver a song at its best within that ambit. So the directors became fixated on them and they, in turn, became the most dependable singers.”

Bharatan knew the sisters at close quarters and was privy to Bhosle’s internal struggles. “She was second to Lata throughout and always carried that burden,” he points out. “Except for O P Nayyar, she was second choice for everyone else, that is, if they couldn’t get Lata or if it was a small film. She would generally end up with second-line songs.”

O P Nayyar was one of the finest music directors of the 1970s and ’80s, the first person to make Bhosle believe in herself, Bharatan says. “The second person to give her a modern identity was R D Burman, and in between there was S D Burman, who also influenced her a lot. So, Asha’s quest for identity revolves around these three, which I have brought out in the book.”

Bharatan says he did not have to research his book, nor did he need to approach Bhosle before writing it. Perhaps that is why his biographies include candid tidbits about India’s most famous musicians. He remarks, “People have always thought of Lata Mangeshkar as being very staid and without a sense of humour. In fact, the contrary is true. She is a great prankster, always laughing and full of mirth.” Who would’ve thought!

At 85, Bharatan’s mind is as sharp as ever and his memory intact, although one detects a slight sense of remorse at not being able to set crosswords any more. “It can be done in seconds on the computer now, and publications prefer to run syndicated crosswords from abroad.” Still, he’s open to change and even learnt to use a computer, which he used to write the new book, albeit “as a glorified typewriter”.

As Asha Bhosle: A Musical Biography is an unauthorised publication, does he think Bhosle has read it? “Every word! And I can imagine Lata telling her, ‘Mine is over…now it’s your turn’.”

Text and Photograph by Natasha Rego
Featured in Harmony — Celebrate Age Magazine
September 2016