Asha was born on 8 September 1933 in the village of Sangli. Sangli is located near Krishna river. She was the daughter of Deenanath Mangeshkar. Deenanath was an actor and classical singer on Marathi theatre. When Asha was nine years old, her father died. Their family moved from Pune to Kolhapur and then to Mumbai. She and her elder sister Lata Mangeshkar began singing for movies to support their family. She sang her first song "Chala Chala Nav Bala" for the Marathi movie "Majha Bal (1943)". She made her Hindi movie debut when she sang the song 'Saawan Aaya' for the movie named "Chunariya" (1948).