On Asha Bhosle's birth anniversary, AR Rahman to unveil AI-created tribute Asha Forever

Asha Bhosle’s birth anniversary, AR Rahman is set to unveil Asha Forever, a special tribute song he recorded with the legendary singer before her death. The tribute will feature AI-created recreations of a star-studded celebration that Rahman had originally planned during Asha Bhosle’s lifetime, with several prominent names from the entertainment industry, including Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth and Karan Johar, becoming part of the virtual celebration.Sources close to the project reveal that Asha Forever was originally envisioned as a much larger celebration for Asha Bhosle while she was alive. Rahman had planned to bring together some of the biggest names from the entertainment industry in her presence, creating a special moment that celebrated not just her music but also the relationships and memories she had built with generations of artists.However, following Asha Bhosle’s death, the celebration could no longer take place as planned. Rahman, sources say, was still keen to see the idea through and did not want the original vision of celebrating Asha with the people who mattered to her to be abandoned.This is where AI became part of the project. Instead of physically bringing the stars together for a celebration that could no longer happen, the team explored AI technology to recreate elements of that original vision. The actors and other personalities featured in Asha Forever are therefore part of an AI-created celebration, rather than a real-life gathering. Importantly, sources close to the project stress that the use of AI has been undertaken with consent and specifically to recreate a celebration that had already been conceived while Asha Bhosle was alive. The technology is being used to realise an idea that she was originally meant to witness herself, but which could not happen following her death.A source close to the project says, “This was originally planned as a celebration for Asha Ji, with Rahman wanting to bring the whole industry together in her presence. It was meant to be a very special celebration of her life, her music and the relationships she shared with so many people. After her passing, he was very keen that the idea should still live on. That is when the possibility of using AI came into the picture. The technology has been used with consent and purely because what was originally planned can no longer happen in reality.”For the unversed, the project has been in the making for some time. Rahman had first spoken about Asha Forever in June, when he released a teaser featuring Asha herself in the recording studio. At the time, he revealed that the tribute had been planned while she was alive and that his original hope was for Asha to actually see the finished project and the love that came with it. Asha Bhosle died on April 12, 2026, aged 92.- EndsPublished By: Priyanka SharmaPublished On: Sep 7, 2026 21:03 IST