For many in the UAE, Asha Bhosle was not only a voice from Indian cinema’s golden age, but also a familiar presence through her many concerts and through her food.
Long before celebrity-backed dining became commonplace, the beloved playback singer, who died on Sunday at the age of 92, had already built a personal connection with the Emirates through her signature restaurant, Asha's.
First opened in Dubai’s Wafi City in 2002, it marked the beginning of a relationship with the UAE that would endure for more than two decades. The restaurant was not simply a branding exercise, but something Bhosle was personally invested in, from recipes to the overall experience.
“My wish is that the people who come to the restaurant should feel they are sitting in their home and eating,” she told The National in 2011. “I can make all sorts of food and my restaurants have the best of what I’ve learnt.”
Dubai, in particular, played a pivotal role in shaping Bhosle's restaurant venture. The city’s diversity made it an ideal testing ground, helping Asha’s grow from a single location into an international brand. Today, Asha's operates 14 branches in five countries, including two in the UK, with celebrities devotees such as Tom Cruise who's a big fan of the chicken tikka masala; and pop star Pink who said she “had the best Indian food of my life”.
Asha's restaurant said she was the "heart, spirit and the very foundation" of the establishment.
"Her love for food, her instinct for flavour and her deep sense of hospitality shaped what Asha’s became and what it will always remain," they told The National on Monday. "She believed in warmth that could be felt without words. In food that stays with you. In making people feel like they belong. That is who she was.
"While her voice will continue to live on across the world, her presence at Asha’s does not feel like something we have lost it is something we will continue to carry, every single day."
For Bhosle, cooking was not a secondary pursuit but a deeply personal one, rooted in years of passion and practice.
“I have tried to be an all-rounder, place my foot in different things,” she said. “I think you should always try new things. If you hold on to one thing, then that will not work for very long.”
That philosophy of reinvention mirrored her musical career, which spanned more than seven decades and included thousands of songs across genres and languages.
Born in 1933 into a musical family, Bhosle began singing at an early age and went on to become one of India’s most versatile playback singers, in Bollywood and beyond. While she was often compared to her elder sister, Lata Mangeshkar, who died in 2022 at the age of 92, Bhosle carved out her own identity through her willingness to experiment, embracing everything from classical compositions to cabaret-style numbers and pop-influenced tracks. She famously teamed up with singer Boy George for the 1990 track Bow Down Mister and R.E.M frontman Michael Stipe in The Way You Dream in 2002. She also collaborated with British boy band Code Red on the 1997 track We Can Make It.
“Rest in peace, your voice was like silk,” Boy George posted on Instagram on Sunday.
Bhosle's prolific output – estimated at more than 12,000 songs – made her one of the most recorded artists in history. She sang in multiple languages, including Hindi, Marathi and Bengali, and worked with some of the most influential composers in Indian cinema.
Yet even as her career reached global heights, she continued to build strong ties with audiences in the UAE through live performances. Over the years, Bhosle returned regularly to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, where her concerts drew crowds spanning generations.
Her most recent appearance in Dubai was in 2023, when she performed at Coca-Cola Arena as part of celebrations marking her 90th birthday. The event highlighted her enduring popularity and continued connection to audiences in the region.
“I’m not retiring,” she told The National in a separate interview. “As long as my voice is there, I will sing.”
That determination was evident throughout her later years, as she continued to perform and engage with fans, defying expectations about age and longevity.
“Energy is from the mind. It’s not as if because you are older, you can’t do this or that,” she said. “Keep smiling, keep everyone smiling and even if you are not happy, act as if you are.”
In 2017, Bhosle was honoured with a lifetime achievement award at Dubai International Film Festival, acknowledging her influence on Indian cinema and her connection to audiences in the region.
“I feel very honoured,” she said at the event. “I’m Indian, and Asian people everywhere in the world know me, but here I saw an audience from the Middle East enjoying my music.”
The award reflected the breadth of her impact, as a singer as well as a cultural figure whose work resonated far beyond India.
Bhosle was admitted to Mumbai's Breach Candy Hospital on Saturday with a chest infection and exhaustion, her granddaughter Zanai Bhosle said in a social media post. She died on Sunday of multiple organ failure, a physician at the hospital said.
Her funeral will be held at 4pm (India time) on Monday at Shivaji Park in Mumbai.
