No more acting for me: Asha Bhosle

Singer Asha Bhosle, who turned actor for the film, Mai, says she’s better off singing; won’t act in another film.

Singer Asha Bhosle, who turned actor for the film, Mai, says she’s better off singing; won’t act in another film. Director Mahesh Kodyal’s hindi film Mai, where Asha Bhosle (above) makes her acting debut, releases on Thursday.

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But the legendary singer is sure it’s the end of her acting career. “I think I’m better off singing. Once a singer, always a singer.

Acting was like an adventure to me. My deepest regret is that two people so close to my heart, my daughter Varsha (who died tragically in 2012) and my friend photographer Gautam Rajadhyaksha can’t watch my film.”

Ask her if she found the transition from singing to acting difficult, and she says: “I play a mother in the film.
I didn’t have to act. In fact, I think acting is much easier than singing. While acting, you get your emotions broken into several shots before they are conveyed. While singing, all the emotions have to come out in one go in one take.”

Bhosle, who has sung a melange of romantic film songs to cabaret to ghazals in her over six decade-long career, says crooning behind the mike elevates her mood.
“Whenever I’ve sung, I’ve set my sorrows aside. But when I sit to think I see so many sorrows in my life. Maybe God thinks I’d stop singing if I was allowed to be stress-free. I never relaxed in life,” says the singer, who likes being a people’s person.

“My daughter Varsha once asked me why I speak to everyone from my residence’s watchman to the guy who does our laundry. I inquire about everyone. That’s an old habit. My daughter asked: ‘Do you know who you are?’ I thought about it. She said: ‘You’re Asha Bhosle. And you must maintain a distance from people.’ I disagreed with that. Just because I sing, it doesn’t mean I’m not a human being. I like to see myself as a simple person. I may dress up in public. But
at home you’ll see me in a simple sari,” says Bhosle.