By a providential coincidence, Hindi cinema's most popular singing sisters Lata and Asha are both born in September. Lata came into this world on September 28, 1929 while Asha was born on September 8, 1933. Of course, for both these divas, the theme song could well be 'Age is but a number'. For even today, these awesomely-gifted singers continue to mine the seemingly inexhaustible mother lode of their talents.

What is also remarkable is that the sedate Lata and feisty Asha have in some respects become almost a duet like 'bread and butter' or 'sur and taal'. Despite the stark differences in their voices, their singing styles and in their personalities, the sisters seems to be also intractably interlinked by a destiny that still binds them close together.
TNT Movies compares the two sisters' experiences and triumphs over five decades of singing supremacy.

The early years - striking both high and low notes
The sisters were born to renowned stage actor-singer, Dinanath Mangeshkar. It was, by most accounts, a normal childhood for both, except that their father gave them a grounding in classical music. The unexpected death of their father when Lata was barely 13, necessitated a shift to the film studios for Lata. Responsible for her three younger sisters and a brother, she brought much-needed money into the household by acting in small roles in 1940s films like Pahili Manglagaur and Subhadra.

But while Lata was the responsible one, battling the odds to enter the world of playback singing, zesty Asha, younger by four years, was a bit of a rebel. At 14, she defied her family and eloped with a much-older man, Ganpatrao Bhosle.

However, if Lata's first break as a playback singer came in 1947 with Aap Ki Sewa Mein, Asha's was only a year later - Chunariya in 1948. Of course, the difference was that Lata shot up like a comet while Asha, concentrating on her family, languished in the shadows in the early years.
Lata becomes a superstar seven years before Asha.

The turning point in Lata's career came just two years after her playback debut -- in 1949. The Lata tidal wave was caused by more than just her famous trio of superhits in that year - Andaaz, Mahal and Barsaat -- with their catch of immortal songs like the joyous 'Hawa mein udta jaaye mera lal dupatta malamal ka', the lugubrious 'Uthaye ja unke sitam' and the breathily sepulchral 'Aayega aanewala'.

In that same year, just consider the impact that Lata made with further hits from Ek Thi Ladki ('Lara lappa, lara lappa'), Patanga ('Kabhi khamosh ho jana') and Badi Bahen (where, alongside heroine Suraiya's hits, Lata had 'Chhup chhup khade ho zaroor koi baat hai' and 'Chale jaana nahin'). Beautifully composed songs all, beautifully sung.

Suraiya and Shamshad were the most popular voices in films at that time. But while Shamshad found herself being increasingly sidelined, star-singer Suraiya suffered because of the waning popularity of her films in the fifties. Lata became the voice of the new decade. This was made possible not only because of her hits but because most of the leading composers of the day like C Ramchandra and Husnlal Bhagatram shifted almost en masse to Lata. Naushad, possibly the most popular composer then, had already indicated his choice with Andaaz (where Shamshad's vocals were used on Cuckoo while Lata gave playback for heroine Nargis) while Shanker Jaikishen had begun with Lata in Barsaat and remained loyalists.

Thereafter Lata backed up her success story with a major blockbuster almost every year - 1951's Awara, 1952's Baiju Bawra, 1953's Anarkali, 1954's Nagin. Meanwhile, Asha still had to contend with the vibrant vocals of Shamshad Begum and Geeta Dutt to find her place under the sun. A Lata antagonist like OP Nayyar seemed destined to eventually become an Asha admirer but even Nayyar utilized Geeta's and Shamshad's vocals rather than Asha in his early hits like Aar Paar, Mr And Mrs 55 and CID.

And of course, there was Lata's long shadow. Asha had to be satisfied with a 'Mud mud ke na dekh' picturised on vamp Nadira while Lata lent playback for Nargis in Shri 420 ('55). In Nagin, Lata had a string of superhits while Asha had to be content with the song for the sahelis: 'Yaad rakhna dil pardesi ka abad rakhna.' It's another matter altogether that Asha infused a sulfurous zest in the first and a wonderful sweetness in the latter.

Asha's big year came seven years after Lata had become a superstar. In 1957 O P Nayyar chose her vocals for all of Vyjayanthimala's songs in the major hit Naya Daur ('Ude jab jab zulphein teri') as well as for new heroine Ameeta in the Shammi Kapoor success, Tumsa Nahin Dekha. But it wasn't just Nayyar all the way. S D Burman who had often opted for Asha in earlier films like Taxi Driver and Funtoosh now gave her a clutch of hits in 1957 like Paying Guest and Nau Do Gyarah ('Chhod do aanchal zamana kya kahega', 'Aankhon mein kya jee?').
Coincidentally, destiny continued to interlink the two sisters and a brief interval during which Lata sang sparingly for S D Burman and C Ramchandra benefitted Asha tremendously. By 1958-1959 Ms Bhosle was singing for all the top heroines like Madhubala (Howrah Bridge, Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi), Vyjayanthimala (Paigham) and Nutan (Delhi Ka Thug, Sujata).