When I posted this list  of ten Asha duets last week, the plan had not been to post a follow-up list as well. But then, blog readers began commenting on the post, and several of them posted songs that I really like, with playback singers I hadn’t mentioned. After all, when you’re doing a list of just ten songs, the tendency—and I admit I succumbed to this temptation—is to include your favourite songs. All the duets with Rafi, Kishore, Mukesh, et al, featured there. And those songs with these singers that didn’t actually get listed, I at least made it a point to mention.

Even when I’d posted that list, I was ruing the fact that I had still not got around to writing about Asha’s songs with, say, her sister Usha Mangeshkar. There were, in addition, a few rare songs with relatively little-known singers, too, that I had had in mind, but hadn’t written about.

So many good songs on the back burner. I decided a Part 2 was in order. So here it is. Ten duets sung by Asha Bhonsle with a fellow singer who wasn’t listed in the earlier post. As always, these songs are all from pre-1970s Hindi films that I’ve seen. These are in no particular order.

1. Assalam aleikum babu kaho kaisa haal hai (Kalpana, 1960): With Sudha Malhotra. Sudha Malhotra sang playback for Hindi cinema primarily in the ten years between 1950 and 1960, among her most famous solos being the poignant Tum mujhe bhool bhi jaao toh yeh haq hai tumko and Salaam-e-hasrat qubool kar lo. However, she also sang some wonderful duets, including one of my favourite bhajans, Na main dhan chaahoon. In Kalpana, an OP Nayyar score, Raja Mehdi Ali Khan wrote the lyrics for this fun ‘performance song’ where Ragini and Padmini dance, lip-syncing to the voices of Asha and Sudha. It’s interesting to see how many performance songs of this type—with one woman dressed as a man—Asha sang (as other examples: Kajra mohabbat waala, Reshmi salwar kurta jaali ka, and Jawaani jalaa bedardi).

2. Dekho maane nahin roothi haseena (Taxi Driver, 1954): With Jagmohan Bakshi. Jagmohan Bakshi is better known as a composer: along with Sapan Sengupta, he formed the composer duo of Sapan-Jagmohan, who composed music for films such as Begaana and Insaaf ka Mandir. But well before he turned composer, Jagmohan had been a singer, debuting in Hindi cinema with this duet he sang with Asha Bhonsle for the Navketan Films production Taxi Driver. Composed by SD Burman and with lyrics by Sahir, Dekho maane nahin roothi haseena is a sweetly playful song, celebrating the joy of being in love, of knowing that one is loved.

3. Huzoor-e-vaala jo ho ijaazat (Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi, 1966): With Minoo Purushottam. Minoo Purushottam’s debut song, at the age of a mere sixteen years, was a duet: in Roshan’s Taj Mahal, Na na na re na na haath na lagaana, with Suman Kalyanpur. Over a course of the next two decades, she sang for many composers, many films, and was even nominated for a Filmfare Award—but is sadly overlooked. There’s this song, though.

Yeh Raat Phir Na Aayegi featured one of my favourite Asha solos, the ethereal Yehi woh jagah hai; but it also had this song sung by Asha and Minoo Purushottam. Given that the film’s music was composed by OP Nayyar—an expert when it came to Western-style club songs—it’s odd that Huzoor-e-vaala jo ho ijaazat sounds more qawwali than cabaret/club. Not one of my favourite OP Nayyar club/performance songs, but it’s not bad. And Asha and Minoo Purushottam sing well together.

4. Ghir-ghirke aasmaan par chhaane lagi ghataayein (Bawre Nain, 1950): With Rajkumari. Rajkumari had been spotted by Vijay Bhatt when she was just ten years old, acting in theatre. It was because of Bhatt’s influence that Rajkumari quit theatre and joined cinema as a singing actress. While she did work in quite a few Hindi and Gujarati films through the 1930s, she eventually decided to focus only on singing and became (possibly?) the first Indian female playback singer. By the time Asha came into her own, Rajkumari’s star was on the wane. They did, however, sing a few songs together, of which Ghir-ghirke aasmaan par chhaane lagi ghataayein is a favourite of mine. Roshan’s music and Kidar Sharma’s lyrics are excellent, and the way the voices of the two women meld is lovely.

5. Do pal jo teri aankhon se peene ko mile (Bahaaron ke Sapne, 1967): With Usha Mangeshkar. Given old Hindi cinema’s propensity for two-dancer (as in two women dancers) songs, whether Western-style club performances, mujras, or street dances, female duets popped up fairly frequently in these situations. And, given Asha’s reputation as an excellent singer of sensual, uninhibited songs—the type commonly sung by dancers like this—it’s hardly surprising that she sang her fair share of duets of this kind, along with other female playback singers. Like Mubarak Begum in my earlier list, or Minoo Purushottam in Huzoor-e-vaala jo ho ijaazat.

Another song, then, for two women dancers. The dancers are Lakshmi Chhaya and Bela Bose, and Asha sings this with her younger sister Usha Mangeshkar (with whom she sang several lovely songs, including the dance-off classic, Dekho bijli dole). I love the energy, the pep, and the absolutely sizzling synergy of the two singers here: they do total justice to RD Burman’s music and Majrooh Sultanpuri’s lyrics.

6. Naacho ghoom-ghoom-ghoomke (Sarhad, 1960): With Chitalkar Ramachandra. Composer and playback singer Chitalkar Ramachandra was part of the Lata camp: his rapport with Asha’s elder sister was such that when C Ramachandra had to use a female voice, Lata seems to have been invariably his first choice. As AK mentions in this post, it is interesting that despite him (or Naushad) not being great fans of Asha, they still ended up creating some excellent songs for her. Here is one, which C Ramachandra sang along with Asha, in addition to of course composing it. His penchant for fast-paced, Western-influenced music is perhaps not a very appropriate fit for a song supposedly set in a tribal community, but anyhow. It has an infectious beat, and both he and Asha bring a good deal of energy to the song.

7. Dadi amma Dadi amma maan jaao (Gharana, 1961): With Kamal Barot. Born in Tanzania, Kamal Barot had debuted in Hindi cinema in 1957 as a playback singer. She went on to have a fairly successful career over the next decade or so, especially when it came to duets: paired with other singers like Suman Kalyanpur, Asha Bhonsle, Lata Mangeshkar and Mahendra Kapoor, she sang some excellent songs (including one of my favourite ‘monsoon songs’, the lovely Garjat barsat saawan aayo re). In this iconic kiddie song—such a classic that people tend to forget it was a film song—she and Asha sing for two children, trying to butter up their huffy grandmother. Kamal’s voice sounds younger and a bit shrill, which of course fits the idea of a child singing.

8. Hum rang-rangeeli joban van ki titliyaan re (Paigham, 1959): With Suman Kalyanpur. Talented and with a lovely voice, Suman Kalyanpur still got somewhat overlooked because she happened to enter the world of Hindi film playback singing at a time when the Lata-Asha juggernaut was ruling. Despite that, she did get to sing some good songs—ironically enough many of them songs in which most people tend to mistake her for Lata.

Suman Kalyanpur and Asha sang several duets together, including Naache re Radha naache and Hum bachche hain. This song, picturized on Vyjyanthimala and B Saroja Devi as their characters go on a drive with a bunch of their sahelis, is a pleasantly upbeat one. The curious intonation of titt-liyaan is pretty unique.

9. Thumak-thumak chali kaamini (Ek Do Teen, 1953): With GM Durrani. One of the most popular male playback singers of the 40s, GM Durrani was both a singer as well as a composer. As a singer, he sang some songs that may be regarded as landmarks: Mohammad Rafi’s first Hindi song was with GM Durrani; Lata’s first song for Naushad was a duet with him; Geeta Dutt’s breakthrough film, Do Bhai, featured a duet with her and GM Durrani.

By the time Asha Bhonsle was gaining in popularity, GM Durrani was beginning to hang up his boots, so to say (there was speculation that he was advised to give up playback singing after he went on Haj). But Asha did sing several duets along with him, of which I like this one. There’s a certain faintly nasal tone to Asha’s voice in Thumak-thumak chali kaamini that I think fits the song (composed by Vinod, lyrics by Aziz Kashmiri) very well.

10. Anaadi hai shikari dekho dillagi (Shabnam, 1964): With Usha Khanna. Usha Khanna was by no means the first woman music director of Hindi cinema; there had been others (like Saraswati Devi and Jaddan Bai) before her. But she is probably the best-known, and a very talented music director. Unfortunately, after a stellar debut (with Dil Deke Dekho) and an excellent second film (Hum Hindustani), Usha Khanna did not get too many breaks and ended up composing for a number of B-grade films. That she still managed to compose songs that have outlasted the films they were in, says a lot for her work.

Shabnam, a fairly entertaining swashbuckler based on Zorro (with Mehmood playing the role of the masked vigilante-cum-buffoon), is probably best-known for Teri nigaahon pe mar-mar gaye hum, but it also had this good dance-off song, picturized on Helen and L Vijaylakshmi, which was sung by Asha and Usha Khanna. Asha’s voice is markedly different to Usha’s (who is more shrill), but they go well together.

Which songs would you add to this list? Which other singers, which I haven’t covered here or in my earlier list?