Celebrated diva Asha Bhosle, who has enthralled music lovers for over five decades with her songs, turned 72 Thursday and elder sister Lata Mangeshkar said she was proud of her.

Asha, a recipient of the prestigious Dada Saheb Phalke award, has sung more than 20,000 songs in many languages. Among the awards the velvet-voiced Asha has received are six Filmfare Awards and the Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award.

"I want her to touch the sky," said Lata Mangeshkar fondly of her younger sibling.

"What my sister Asha has achieved is amazing. I'm very proud of her. It's said that no tree can grow under a large tree. I'm lucky that I never had to go out and seek work for my kith and kin. Whatever my brother Hridayanath and sister Usha have achieved in the music world, they've done on their own. But I feel my presence has cast a shadow over their careers," Lata told.

"Asha had to move away from my shadows to prove herself. And she did it so wonderfully! She set out to do what she had to on her own. And I feel very happy when I hear her songs in her new album 'Asha'. I've listened to what she has done to the ghazal legends - Mehdi Hassan, Ghulam Ali, Farida Khannum and Jagjit Singh - Asha's singing needs no comment. She has always been versatile and this album proves how far she has come.

"It was very brave of her to elect to do songs by such stalwarts. It's not easy to encore such time-tested numbers. No matter how well you do it people are bound to say you just can't compare. Yes, I had done 'Shradhanjali' where I had tried to sing numbers of the great stalwarts in the playback world. Luckily for me I paid homage to those who were already gone.

"Asha has to compete with the living. For that she must be congratulated. I like the way she has paid a tribute to these living legends. The only reservation I've about the ghazals in the album 'Asha' are the changes in the orchestration. I didn't much care for the guitar interludes in the ghazals. They create a sense of discord. I suppose the ghazals have been modernized to suit young tastes.

"But in my opinion there's a particular mahaul - a specific environment - for the ghazal which cannot be tampered with. This is my opinion. It's also my opinion that my sister has reached a stage in her career where she can attempt anything. I want her to touch the sky."