New Delhi, April 12 -- When R.D. Burman died in January 1994, Asha Bhosle refused to enter the room where he lay. She had known him for nearly 40 years - as a colleague, a collaborator, and for 14 of those years, as her husband.

Their love story began in an unusual place-a recording studio-but of course, it suited them perfectly.

The year was 1956. Asha Bhosle was 23, already a working playback singer navigating a difficult personal life - she had eloped at 16 with Ganpatrao Bhosle, and the marriage had turned abusive.

Meanwhile, the teenager who would become Rahul Dev Burman - affectionately known across Bollywood as Pancham Da - was barely 17, the son of legendary composer Sachin Dev Burman, still finding his way into music. Accordin...