The Maharashtra Bhushan Selection Committee chaired by Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has unanimously selected legendary playback singer Asha Bhosle for the prestigious award.
Maharashtra cultural affairs minister Amit Deshmukh said the Maharashtra Bhushan Puraskar will be given to legendary playback singer Asha Bhosle for the year 2021.
The minister visited the residence of the veteran singer and congratulated her by giving a flower bouquet.
Ms. Bhosle in her reaction said that it is like praises showered upon her by her own family.
She said the threat of COVID-19 still looms large, besides, the devastating heavy rains and floods in Chiplun, Sangli, Kolhapur has caused tremendous loss. Therefore she requested the government to organise the felicitation programme after the situation gets back to normalcy.
Asha Bhosle is best known for her playback singing in Hindi cinema, although she has a wider repertoire. Bhosle’s career started in 1943 and has spanned over seven decades. She has done playback singing for over a thousand movies. In addition, she has recorded several private albums and participated in numerous solo concerts in India and abroad
She was officially acknowledged by the Guinness Book of World Records as the most recorded artist in music history. The Government of India honoured her with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2000 and the Padma Vibhushan in 2008. Bhosle is the sister of playback singer Lata Mangeshkar and belongs to the prominent Mangeshkar family.
Renowned for her soprano voice range and often credited for her versatility, Bhosle’s work includes film music, pop, ghazals, bhajans, traditional Indian classical music, folk songs, qawwalis, and Rabindra Sangeet. Apart from Hindi, she has sung in over 20 Indian and foreign languages.