Cineplot Music

Manna Dey – Part 2

Manna Dey

Other equally talented and deserving artistes of his time, made successful collaborations with either directors, music composers, or matinee idols, which gave impetus to their careers. The Lata Mangeshkar – Madan Mohan combine, the Rafi – Naushad collaboration, the Mukesh – Raj Kapoor unity, the Kishore Kumar – R.D.Rurman merger. Manna Da was never tied down to such a collaboration.

In fact after Manna Dey sang Raj Kapoor to famous heights in ‘Dil ka haal sune dilwala’ and `Pyar hua ikrar hua’, he could very nearly have become the permanent voice of Raj Kapoor. But that was not to be. Manna Da could not make himself available to film makers in Mumbai. ‘How could I abandon all mine recordings in Calcutta and go running to Mumbai’ he reasons.

But all his fans can draw consolation from the fact that he was indeed the No.1 playback singer in Bengal, where he had even raced ahead of compatriot –Hemant Kumar. Here in Mumbai, a single minded industry, constrained him into a strait-jacket, which he struggled to overcome. When pitched against the Virtuoso Mohd. Rafi in a number like ‘Tu hai mera prem devta’ for composer O.P. Nayvar’s classical odyssey Kalpana. Manna Da made an all out effort to move away from the ‘raga’ mould and sound ‘filmy’.

Recalls Manna Dey ‘Many times I had to sing shoulder to shoulder with Rafi Saab. I’ve always accepted that he was a great singer. If I didn’t put in that extra something, then I had very little chance of being heard’. So dejected was he by the lack of opportunity, that he had almost decided to quit. We must be grateful that he stayed on to enrich our lives with the most soul stirring music in Hindi playback.

That was the quality of his music, and so evolved his erudition that even in a duet with maestro Bhimsen Joshi, his rendition stood out. The song was ‘Ketaki gulab ki’ from the film Basant Bahar, a virtual festival of classical music. With solos like ‘Bhaye bhanjana’ and ‘Sur na saje’ composers Shankar – Jaikishan had no choice but to let Manna Da take charge of the classical score.

Every composer, turned only to Manna Dey whenever classical sentiments needed to be nuanced. Such was the erudition of this gentleman, that he often added intricately woven flourishes  and deflections into composition, adding luster to the original notation.

There were numerous such songs which have set the standard for excellence in Hindi playback. ‘Ae mere pyare watan’ from Kabuliwallah. A song that still brings gooseflesh to every nationalist Indian. And the yearning, moving tones of ‘Poocho na kaise maine rain beetayi’. This S.D. Burman composition effortlessly transcends its raga circumscribed domain to move into the cosmos of universal sentiment. Every word written by Shailendra, inscribed in gold.

Manna Da’s organized approach to his singing was probably one among the many reasons for the smooth elegant transition from notation to rendition. He always came to recordings, armed with notes, thoroughly rehearsed, which meant that he would require only one rehearsal before the final take. Whirls is why an intricate composition like `Poocho na kaise’ comes across so effortlessly.

Reminiscing on the genesis of ‘Pooch na kaise’ he said ‘Once I’m asked to sing a composition for a specific situation, I get totally involved with the composition. I gave an extra something to ‘Poocho…’ because it was composed by S.D. Burman. Burman Dada was like a brother to me. The other songs for the film’s hero Ashok Kumar were sung by another singer. But when Burman Dada chose me for ‘Poocho na kaise’ he told
me to forget that I was Manna Dey and to sing for the character’.

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