Not Humrae Gaon Koi Ayega, But THIS Song Is First Duet Of Legendary Sisters Asha Bhosle, Lata Mangeshkar

Sisters

Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Bhosle had two of the most powerful voices in the Indian film industry. They sang in nearly every language and gave their best to all sorts of songs. However, there were very few instances of the two working with one another. When everyone thinks of any Lata and Asha duet, the first song that comes to mind is Mann Kyun Behka Ri Behka Aadhi Raat Ko from the 1985 film Utsav. While others believe the 1962 song Humrae Gaon Koi Ayega from Professor was one of their firsts. Their first song together goes all the way back to the 1950s with the film Daman.

Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar's first duet

According to film and music historian Raju Bharatan, who wrote biographies on both Asha and Lata, the sisters' first duet together was with the film Daman (1951). The sisters sang the song Ye Ruki Ruki Hawayen to the tunes of composer K Datta. Asha and Lata have sung together around 80 times, but the veteran singer had forgotten about their very first recording.

In Asha's biography, Bharatan recalls stumping the singer with his knowledge, as she believed their first duet was with the film Mayur Pankh (1953) with the song Yeh Barkha Bahaar. In a 1971 interview, Asha even told Bharatan that Lata was not her rival. She stated, "After all we'd both inherited from our Baba [Deenanath Mangeshkar] the same bounty - the bounty of music. No doubt Didi had a head-start, but that only made me more determined to catch up with her."

Other memorable duets of Asha and Lata

The sisters sang together for a number of composers from RD Burman to Madan Mohan. But it was Shankar-Jaikishan who made sure to bring them together in memorable songs like Manbhavan Ke Ghar Jaaye Gor from Chori Chori to Kar Gaya Re Mujh Pe Jadoo from Basant Bahar. Another great track from Shankar-Jaikishan was Humrae Gaon Koi Ayega with Asha and Lata from the hit film Professor (1962), starring Shammi Kapoor. Asha also had another song, Yeh Umar Hai, with her other sister Usha Mangeshkar and Manna Dey in the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThyxyUbDFf4

The lost duet of Asha and Lata

Another anecdote by Bharatan revealed that the iconic patriotic song Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon was originally planned as a duet. Composed by C Ramchandran and written by Kavi Pradeep, the song ended up being a solo for Lata Mangeshkar, even though Asha had even rehearsed for it. The Hindi song pays tribute to the martyred soldiers in the Sino-Indian War in 1962.