The essence of star power

As if singer Asha Bhosle wasn't legendary enough - and we don't use the term lightly - she received some extra heavy metal for her overcrowded trophy room this month. Not only was she honoured at the 10th Pune International Film Festival for her 'outstanding contribution to Indian cinema', but the Mumbai media house, Screen, also presented her with a lifetime achievement award.

Bhosle, 78, has at least 31 other such similar felicitations, including a Grammy nomination and a BBC lifetime achievement award (presented by then British prime minister Tony Blair in 2002). So when Bhosle herself is asked how many trophies line her cabinets, she sounds genuinely perplexed.

'I have no idea,' she says, laughing, and turning to ask her son, Anand: 'Do you know how many? Well, the most memorable awards were the national awards given to me by the president of India [in 1981, 1986 and a Padma Vibhushan award, the second highest civilian award, granted by President Pratibha Patil in 2008]. The rest, well, it's nice to be mentioned.

'But I have to confess one thing: everything came late to me in life.'

Bhosle's achievements are ever-more remarkable as the younger sibling to India's 'nightingale', Lata Mangeshkar. Two legendary singers born to the same household, mellifluous careers mired in mumblings of who's better. 'I received everything 20 years after it was due to me - fame, recognition, awards,' she says. 'And the other half of my life got lost in the pointless conversation about who was better: me or my elder sister.'

Like the rivalry between operatic divas Maria Callas and Renata Tebaldi, with loyalties divided by fanatics, composers and producers, the rivalry between the Mangeshkar siblings has filled pages of Indian print since the 1940s. But it's an issue Bhosle refuses to address today, after years of supposed musical riffs and rifts. 'I respect and love my sister. We meet for every family function. What others say, who is bothered?'