If you’ve ever lost yourself in the magic of Piya Tu Ab Toh Aaja or Chura Liya Hai Tumne Jo Dil Ko, you’ve experienced a fraction of Asha Bhosle’s talent. But behind that unmistakable voice was a woman silently enduring heartbreak, violence, and betrayal. In her biography, titled Asha Bhosle: A Life In Music, the singer has opened up about her abusive first marriage.

Asha Bhosle was just 16 when she eloped with Ganpatrao Bhosle, who was twice her age. It wasn’t the fairy-tale romance she may have dreamt of. That teenage love quickly spiralled into something far more sinister. One of the most gut-wrenching revelations in her biography is about the abuse she suffered. “I finally was asked to leave when I was expecting my youngest son Anand.” Even though she went back to her parents and sister, they were initially against this marriage. Even her sister Lata Mangeshkar didn’t speak to Asha Bhosle for quite some time. 

“I wanted to kill myself”

In her biography, Asha Bhosle revealed, “The family was very conservative, and they could not handle a singing star for a daughter-in-law. My husband was short-tempered. Maybe he liked to inflict pain, maybe he was a sadist. But no one would hear about it outside. I gave him respect, never questioning what he did. I just did my duty as per Hindu dharma.”

The legendary singer also recalls a horrifying incident when she was pregnant. “On one occasion, I felt I should kill myself. I was four months pregnant and found myself in hospital where the conditions were so bad that I thought I had landed in hell. I was in mental agony. So, I swallowed a bottle of sleeping tablets. But the love I had for my unborn child was so strong that I did not die. I was dragged back to life, to living.” After years of abuse, Asha finally divorced Ganpatrao in 1960 after the birth of their third son, Anand. She left Ganpatrao and started a new life both emotionally as well as professionally. She delivered back-to-back hits and went on to become the sensation she is today.

Asha Bhosle’s decision to speak openly about her abusive marriage is powerful and necessary. At a time when women in India are still killed for dowry or forced to endure years of abuse, stories like Asha Bhosle’s encourage women to speak up for themselves and save their own lives.

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