Birthday special: When Asha Bhosle was nervous recording Aaja aaja mein hoon pyar tera

Veteran multi-lingual playback singer Asha Bhosle succeeded in carving a niche for herself while her elder sister Lata Mangeshkar was ruling the roost in the Hindi music industry. But did you know she was apprehensive about pulling off one of her major hits Aaja aaja mein hoon pyar tera from Teesri Manzil? As she celebrates her birthday today, read here how she overcame her fear and belted out the evergreen song composed by the late RD Burman.

Hyderabad: The iconic Asha Bhosle once recalled what her elder sister and playback legend Lata Mangeshkar told her when she was nervous before recording a song. Bhosle had opened up on the subject while recalling the making of the classic number Aaja aaja mein hoon pyar tera, which she recorded for the 1966 superhit Teesri Manzil with the late Mohammad Rafi. The evergreen song was composed by the late RD Burman on the late Majrooh Sultanpuri's lyrics.

During her appearance on a reality show, Asha had said that the song was very difficult for her and when she heard RD Burman playing the O aa jaa aaa aah part, she was a little taken aback as she thought that she wouldn't be able to do justice to it. The playback queen even started practicing the main tune in her car so many times that one day her driver got worried. Once when she reached home, he asked her suddenly if she wanted to visit the hospital as he thought that the singer was gasping for breath.

She then went to meet her elder sister Lata Mangeshkar and conveyed her apprehensions. What infused confidence in her were Lata's words: "You are forgetting you are a Mangeshkar first and Bhosle later. Go sing the song, you will do good." The rest, as they say, is history. The song went on to become a huge hit upon the release of the film, and is today considered a classic.

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The younger sister of Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar and belonging to the numero uno Mangeshkar musical family, Asha was born on September 8 1933 in the Goan hamlet of the Sangli princely state, which is now a district in Maharashtra. She launched her singing career at the tender age of 10, and over the past seven decades, has sung more than 12,000 songs for over 1,000 films, including Hindi and Marathi, besides singing in 20 Indian and foreign languages, and performing at scores of solo and group concerts in India and abroad.

With a unique voice, Asha Bhosle is at ease while singing several genres -- be it classical, commercial, romantic, sad, cabaret, ghazal, bhajan, qawwali or western-style pop songs -- earning a place in the Guinness World Records.

She has been conferred with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award (2000), the Padma Vibhushan (2008), two National Awards for Umrao Jaan (1981) and Ijaazat (1986), 7 Filmfare Awards, 17 other awards of Maharashtra government, 3 MTV and one Channel V awards, BBC Lifetime Achievement Award (2002), and the Lata Mangeshkar Award of Madhya Pradesh Government, among many others.

The legendary Mangeshkar family consists of the late Master Deenanath Mangeshkar, his daughters Lata, Asha Bhosle, Usha Khadilkar, Meena Mangeshkar and son Hridaynath Mangeshkar.