‘I always wanted to sing better than didi’

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: From the heyday of Bollywood music to the trauma after RD Burman’s death, legendary singer Asha Bhosle recounts the good times and the bad, in a conversation with The Indian Express Editor-in-Chief, Shekhar Gupta, in NDTV 24X7’s Walk the Talk. Excerpts:

How long have you lived in Mumbai?

Since childhood, actually we are from Goa.

I have heard that you make excellent Goan fish curry?

Yes I love cooking. Like I sing all kinds of songs, I also cook all types of food.

That is great, you love cooking and singing, I love eating and listening!

Songs those days were different, if things have changed for good it is because of Lata didi. She has changed the way people listen to music, how songs should be, the feel of songs. She and Mohammad Rafi made an immense contribution.

Which are your favourites from the early days of your career?

I can’t remember at this moment. Actually I don’t like the songs I’ve sung. I love Lata didi’s songs.

You and Lata have many duets?

Yes, we sang a lot together starting from Mayur Pankh (Sings).

I heard that you had a very different style of singing. One used to hold the notes on the right hand and the other with the left hand.

Yes that’s true, we used to face opposite directions when singing. But the interesting thing is that we never missed a beat. I got my cues from the movement of her hand.

You had a perfect understanding. Lata and you had many duets, most recently in Utsav in 1985.

Chaap Tilak from Utsav was our last duet.

You have sung a lot of naughty songs and done a lot of naughty things.

Naughty things, no. Naughty songs, yes. I have done everything with good intentions. I got married, if people think its naughty, let it be so. I got married on my own terms, a lot of people talk about it, but I have faced the consequences. I believe that if you do something you should be strong enough to face the consequences.

We read that there was a lot of tension between you and Lata — sibling rivalry. A film also was made on it, Saaz.