AR Rahman has put out 'Asha Forever', a tribute track built around Asha Bhosle, launched on what would have been her birthday with Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in the room.

Bhosle's granddaughter Zanai Bhosle was also present at the unveiling, according to Bollywood Hungama. The song is written by Amitabh Bhattacharya and was shot in two cities that shaped Bhosle's own career arc, London and Mumbai.

Here's the part that sets this apart from your standard birthday tribute. Bollywood Hungama reports that the project was originally conceived while Asha Bhosle was alive, but some of its visual elements could not be completed in her lifetime. Following her passing, the makers used AI, with consent, to realise those remaining pieces. It's a rare instance of a legacy musical tribute being finished after the artist it honours is gone, and it puts 'Asha Forever' in the same conversation as other recent posthumous-AI experiments in Indian music, though the makers haven't detailed exactly which visual segments involved the technology.

Rahman, at the launch, thanked Fadnavis for hosting the event and used the moment to place Bhosle in a larger frame. "Asha Bhosle was Maharashtra's and our national pride, she was our greatest strength in taking our music global," he said, according to Bollywood Hungama. "Her voice and music transcended every boundary, and it is very special to celebrate her legacy."

That's not hyperbole given the scale of her catalogue. Bhosle's career ran across decades and languages, and her voice sits underneath a huge chunk of what people think of as classic Hindi film music. The Times of India's report on the event framed the release around her 93rd birthday and noted an ensemble of global artists on the track, without going into the AI detail that Bollywood Hungama flagged. The two accounts don't fully line up on how the anniversary itself was being marked, and CutMirchi has sought clarity on that.

'Asha Forever' is out now in India through Rooh Records and is streaming worldwide via Warner Music India. It arrives at a moment when Rahman himself is in the news for other reasons too. He's set to co-author a memoir, 'Rahman: A Renaissance', with writer Rupa Chakravarty, so the composer's own archive is having a bit of a moment alongside this one.

Whether 'Asha Forever' gets a formal video release beyond the streaming drop, or whether more AI-assisted material from the original concept surfaces later, hasn't been said yet.