Manna Dey with Mohd Rafi and Talat Mahmood

Manna Dey’s unique style and his sincere, humane personality won him admirers and devotees. The late Kavi Pradeep, whose ‘Upar gagan vishaal’ Manna Da sang, says ‘I’m a great fan of Manna Da’s style. He pronounces words with great care and sensitivity. He’s also the emperor of harmony’.

Talented Kavitha Krishnamurthy, a star in her own right, considers Manna Da her guru and role model. She says, ‘Every human being has an ideal figure in his or her life; whom that person wants to emulate. In my life there is my guru. I adore him as an artiste and as a human being and I would consider myself lucky if my life could resemble his. Dada is like a father to me. It’s my good fortune to have performed on stage with him all over the world’.

Manna Da welcomed singing challenges. His repertoire of non-film songs including ‘Yeh awaara raatein’ and ‘Sawan ki rimjhim’, and the two ghazals ‘Hairaan hoon main sanam’ and ‘Shaam ho jaam ho’ reveal the artiste’s endless quest. When poet Madhukar Kajasthani heard Manna Da’s tune for ‘Yeh awaara raatein’, he was overwhelmed with emotion.

Mehdi Hassan wrote Manna Day an effusive letter after he heard one of his non-film songs. ‘How can a film singer sing a non-film song so well?’ he wanted to know.

Manna Dey’s versatility knows no bounds and it would be the gravest injustice to try to stereotype him. He has sung the entire gamut of emotions in his lifetime; and his songs are irrefutable proof of it.

The pensive, defeatist ‘Hansne ki chah ne kitna mujhe rulaya hai’ and ‘Sharab ka sahara’ by Kanu Roy and Madan Mohan respectively. The buoyant, happy-go-lucky ‘Yaari hai iman mera’. The tragi‑comic ‘Aye bhai zara dekh ke chalo’ from Mera Naam Joker, a film dominated by the showman’s voice Mukesh. The song that fetched him his only Filmfare award. The harmonious `Ritu aaye, ritu jaaye’ in which he moves through four ragas. The ludicrous `Meri mombatti bana le mujhko pati’ from the mad Pyar Kiye Jaa. The moving, existentialist ‘Kasmein vaade pyar wafaa baatein hain baaton ka kya’. The effortlessly melodious ‘Zindagi kaisi hai paheli’, a song that was very nearly relegated to a background score, but was saved, when Rajesh Khanna decided to lip synch it. The ups and downs, the gentle and dramatic ironies of life are wonderfully captured in a song as light and carefree as a playful breeze. The lovelorn, passionate ‘Tu chupi hai kahan’. All songs that contain the distinctive flavor of Manna Da’s rendering.

But his one personal favorite, from this rich tapestry would be the song version of Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s ‘Madhushala’. This occupies centrestage in his repertoire, for the revered poet chose Manna Da to sing his precious poetry over his colleagues Rafi and Mukesh. Today Madhushala qualifies as the epitome of the collaboration between poet and singer. Giving rare and rich evidence of Manna Da’s superior ability to penetrate to the very essence of the lyric.

Manna Dey also found time to fulfill a long cherished dream of his. In 1987 he re-recorded some of his uncle’s Bhajans, including the famous ‘Teri gathri mein laga chor’.

Today Manna Dey, lives his life, away from the mike and arclights of fame, giving the rare concert appearance abroad. And the occasional playback number, like the one in Prahaar, where Naria Patekar used all his persuasion to get him to voice that song.

He sorely and deeply misses his colleagues, most of them taken away by cruel fate `Kya woh din they’ he recalls. The creative camaraderie and generous collaborations of his time can never be recreated again. `Main akela reh gaya’ he remarks sorrowfully.

But Manna Dey, was always the solitary traveller. Marked by his distinctive style, his personality, his genuineness and sincerity. And perhaps the only singer who could stake claim to the following thought.

‘Mere sub kuch mere geet re’
‘Geer bina bane mere mere meet re’.
Indeed, ‘The Maestro’ – Subhash K . Jha (Legends – Manna Dey – The Maestro)

Manna Dey

It was the astute S.D. Burman, who discovered the comic side to Manna Da’s singing, enabling him to perhaps, atleast crack the limitations of the classical tag. In the 60′s, for Ziddi, Burman Da made Manna Dey sing the hugely popular and uproariously funny ‘Pyar ki aag mein, tan badan jal gaya’. Every Manna buff still remember the tragi – comic picturisation on Mehmood at the bereft shaadi ka mandap. And the comic interjections of veteran comedian Mukri as the irate father and Shubha Khote as the tragi – comic heroine.

Hugely, absurdly funny and all rendered by the so called ‘classical’ singer Manna Dey. If this is not versatility, nothing is.

Probably the only pairing, that brought another kind of recognition to Manna Dey was his voice over for Mehmood. From the mad ‘Pyar ki aag mein’ we move to the Beatles inspired ‘Aao twist karen’ from Bhoot Bangla in 1965. Here was rollicking, gyrating fun, completely antithetical to Manna Da’s image.

And that mother of all comic songs from Padosan. Much imitated, much enjoyed ‘Ek chatur naar’. Manna Dev voiced the South Indian music tutor played by Mehmood, while the truly comic Kishore Kumar, voiced the ganwaar lover Sunil Dutt. A total laugh riot this song is, always bringing on the chuckles whenever it is seen or played.

Manna Da never looked down upon his comedy songs. ‘I took utmost care over every song that I sang so that even today people want to listen to them’ he avers.

To Manna Da every song was like a child, to be nurtured, moulded, rendered with great care and affection. In 1979 he re-recorded eight of his most popular raga based numbers in stereophonic sound. As we listen to them, we come away with the feeling that even in their refurbished version not a single nuance is missing. No wonder then that veteran stickler composer Anil Biswas remarks ‘Manna Dey could sing whatever others could sing. But could they sing what he could?’

Colleagues of the Maestro, echo similar sentiments. All those gloriously romantic numbers alongwith, Lataji like `Soch ke yeh gagan jhoome’ in Jyoti; ‘Bheegi Chandni’ in Suhagan, ‘Tum gagan ke chandrama’ in Sati Savitri and the wonderfully catchy rustic tune ‘Chunri sambhal’ are rare, lustrousgems, which were the fruits of a pairing between two equals, Lataji concurs ‘These duets couldn’t have been sung by any other singer. The songs that Manna Da sang were his and his alone.’

Mahendra Kapoor is heard confessing that he was always scared when recording with Manna Da.

Even the fastidious and exacting composer C.Ramchandra could find no mistakes with the Maestro. Once in a duet recording with Rafi for a mythological film, the composer stopped to correct Mohd. Rafi but not Manna Dey.

His humanity always shone through. This man generous to a fault, would create improvisations in the song, for co-singers too, so that the overall rendition was always enhanced. Asha Bhosle would request an ornamentation for her rendition, while he created the same for himself, and he would do so on the spot. Their duets demonstrate this smooth compatibility, this effortless give and take of ideas. Especially in that finely crafted ‘Re man sur mein ga’ from Lal Patthar, composed by Shankar Jaikishan.

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’.

Manna Dey

At one point in time in the Golden Age of film music, composers could only think of one name, to render complex, classical based tunes – Manna Dey. Only he stood for classical erudition, only his voice could manoeuvre complicated murkis and gamaks. Only he could be trusted to retain the classical essence of the composition. At another point of time, in this very same Golden Age, Manna Dey also came to be known for his comical numbers.

Manna Dey is the master of all styles. But to millions of fans, he is synonymous with classical excellence which came to him in  a rich legacy from his uncle K.C.Dey. The more venerable among us will remember, the blind minstrel singer, a role that he played onstage and in films. But it was as a composer and singer that K.C.Dey created a lasting reputation.

It was from this uncle that Manna Dey imbibed the art, the craft, the joy of music and singing. Manna Dey recalls his idyllic childhood in a joint family in Calcutta where he was born on 1st May 1920, where no elder raised his voice on little Manna ‘My uncle who trained me, was very kind, and a very hard task master. Ours was a joint family. I was born in the same house as Kaka – K.C.Dey. We used to have all night singing sessions. Those sessions were great learning experiences for me. Ours was a perfect family. My first uncle used to earn the money. My second uncle used to take the decisions. And my father implemented those decisions. Even now we all stay together. Even if we eat plain rice together we’re happy’.

No wonder then, there are no creases, wrinkles or rough edges in the veteran’s voice. It’s almost as if the seven notes come together in divine confluence, to create a kind of celestial harmony that only Manna Dey can articulate.

Much of this could also be traced back to the formidable tutoring that little Manna received. Manna Da sang his first song, composed by the revered K.C.Dey when he was only eleven. He was then taken under the wings of the venerable classical musician Ustad Abdul Rahman Khan. This tutelage is reflected in Manna Da’s remarkable ability to keep his voice steady and unchanged, even in the higher pitches.

The ability brought with it an in-built disadvantage, the ‘classical’ tag that Manna Dey got labelled with in an industry that jumps to create stereotypes. But who else could do complete justice to raga driven songs like ‘Tere naina talaash karen’, ‘Cham, cham bale re payaliya’ ‘Jhanak jhanak tori baje payaliya’ and that perennial favourite ‘Laga chunari mein daag’.

On the other hand, Manna Da gave full and incontrovertible proof of his proficiency in singing love ballads like ‘Yeh raat bheegi, bheegi’ and ‘Bheegi chandni’, duets sung with melody queen Lata Mangeshkar.

The ‘mike casting’ continues to bother Manna Dey to this day. He recalls ‘When I started singing in Hindi films there were quite a few stalwarts all around me, Mohd.Rafi, Talat Mahmood, Mukesh, Kishore Kumar and Hemant Kumar. There were only a limited number of songs to render. So if a hero wanted Rafi saab, naturally it had to be Rafi. Then if it was Dilip Kumar who was a softspoken man, he would prefer Talat Mahmood. Raj Kapoor always wanted Mukesh. And all these singers had beautiful voices’, acknowledges the generous Manna Dey.

The classical label was probably the unkindest cut of all. Not only did it limit this talented artiste’s repertoire but often he was asked to imitate his uncle’s stentorian style. This branded him as a character actor’s voice. In Bimal Roy’s Do Bigha Zameen, Manna Da sang the pantheistic song of fertility and renewal `Dharti kahe pukar ke’. The song was filmed on Balraj Sahni who though the main protagonist of the film was cast in the role of an impoverished, emaciated peasant. And in Bimal Roy’s Parineeta the popular ‘Chal radha rani’ was filmed on a beggar and the tag of the character actor singer was born.

‘I used to weep about this. A young man like me had to sing only one type of song. I don’t know how minds work in this film industry. I’ve always been a good student of classical music. The little knowledge that I have is used in my singing. But classical singers are always shunned by masses. So I wanted to become successful as a popular singer’.