Entertainment News Desk!!! Manna Dey (English: Manna Dey, original name: ‘Prabodh Chandra Dey’, born: May 1, 1920 – death: October 24, 2013) was a famous playback singer of Hindi and Bengali films in the Indian cinema world. His fame was at its peak between the 1950s and 1970s. The number of songs sung by him is more than 3500. He was selected for the prestigious ‘Dada Saheb Phalke Award’ in 2007. The Government of India honored him with ‘Padma Bhushan’ in the field of arts in 2005. Manna Dey spent 50 years of his life in Mumbai.
life introduction
Prabodh Chandra Dey alias Manna Dey was born on 1 May 1920 in Kolkata. Manna Dey’s father wanted him to become a lawyer, but Manna Dey was inclined towards music. He wanted to make his career in this field. He learned classical music from ‘Ustad Abdul Rehman Khan’ and ‘Ustad Aman Ali Khan’. Manna Dey received his initial education in music from his uncle ‘KC Dey’.
Childhood
There is an interesting incident from Manna Dey’s childhood days. Ustad Badal Khan and Manna Dey’s uncle were once practicing together. Then Badal Khan heard Manna Dey’s voice and asked his uncle, who is singing? When Manna Dey was called, he said that I just sing like this. But Badal Khan recognized the hidden talent in Manna Dey. After this he started taking music lessons from his uncle.[1]
Education
Manna Dey studied his childhood in a small school ‘Indu Babur Pathshala’. After studying from ‘Scottish Church Collegiate School’ and ‘Scottish Church College’, he completed his graduation from ‘Vidyasagar College’, Kolkata. His singing talent came to the fore during his Scottish Church College days. Then he used to sing and entertain his fellow students. This was the time when he stood first in ‘inter-college singing competitions’ for three consecutive years. Since childhood, Manna was fond of wrestling, boxing and football and he excelled in all these sports. He has a very cheerful personality and keeps joking with his friends and colleagues.
It was music that introduced Manna Dey to his life partner ‘Sulochana Kumaran’. On 18 December 1953, Manna Dey married Sulochana Kumaran from Kerala. They had two daughters. Suroma was born on 19 October 1956 and Sumita was born on 20 June 1958. Both daughters Suroma and Sumita did not enter the field of singing. One daughter is settled in America.
career
First they were Was with C. Dey and later became assistant to Sachin Dev Burman. Later he worked with many other music directors and then started directing music alone. Even while directing music in many films alone, Manna Dey continued to take lessons in Hindustani classical music from Ustad Aman Ali and Ustad Abdul Rehman Khan.
Manna Dey came to Mumbai with his uncle in the 1940s to pursue his dreams in the field of music. In the year 1943, he got a chance to sing with Suraiya as a playback singer in the film ‘Tamanna’. However, before this he had sung as a chorus in the film ‘Ramrajya’. Interestingly, this was the only film that the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, saw. Among those who recognized Manna Dey’s talent, the name of music composer Shankar Jaikishan is especially noteworthy. The pair made Manna Dey sing songs in different styles. He also made Manna Dey sing romantic songs like ‘Aaja Sanam Madhur Chandni Mein Hum…’ and songs based on classical ragas like ‘Ketaki Gulab Juhi…’. Interestingly, initially Manna Dey had refused to sing this song.
Manna Dey entered the field of playback singing with the 1943 film “Tamanna”. The music was directed by Krishnachandra Dey and Suraiya was with Manna. In 1950’s “Mashaal”, he sang the solo song “Upper Gagan Vishal”, which was composed with melodious tunes by Sachin Dev Burman. In 1952, Manna Dey sang in Bengali and Marathi films. Both these films had the same name “Amar Bhupali” and were based on the same story. After this he established himself in playback singing.
Manna Dey did not get much fame in the early stages of his career. The main reason for this was that his composed voice did not fit any singer. This is the reason that at one time he was forced to sing songs for comedian Mehmood and character actor Pran. For Pran, he sang songs like ‘Kasme Vaade Pyaar Wafa…’ in the film ‘Upkaar’ and ‘Yaari Hai Imaan Mera Yaar Meri Zindagi…’ in Zanjeer. In the same period, when he sang a clever slogan song for comedian Mehmood in the film ‘Padosan’, he started being considered as Mehmood’s voice. Earlier it was generally believed that Manna Dey could sing only classical songs, but later he sang ‘Aye Mere Pyaare Watan’…, ‘O Meri Johra Jabeen’…, ‘Yeh Raat Bheegi Bheegi’… By singing songs like, ‘Na to caravan ki talash hai’… and ‘Ae bhai zara dekh ke chalo’… he silenced the critics forever.
autobiography
In the year 2005, ‘Ananda Prakashan’ published his Bengali autobiography “Jiboner Jalasoghore”. His autobiography was published in English by Penguin Books with the name “Memories Alive” and in Hindi by the same publication with the name “Yaadein Ji Uthi”. Marathi edition published by “Jiboner Jalasaghore” Sahitya Prasar Kendra, Pune.
documentary
An English documentary titled “Jibonere Jalasoghore” based on the life of Manna Dey was released on 30 April 2008 in Nandan, Kolkata. It was produced “by Manna Dey Music Academy”. It was directed by Dr. Sarupa Sanyal and marketing work was handled by Sa Re Ga Ma (H.M.V).[2]
Famous songs of Manna Dey
Apart from Hindi, he has also sung Bengali and Marathi songs. Manna sang the last film song for the film ‘Prahar’. Manna Da has also lent his voice to Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s ‘Madhushala’ which is quite popular. Following are some of the famous songs sung by Manna Dey-
This night is wet (Shree 420) Owes, promises, love, loyalty, all the favors, There is a stain in the scarf (Dil hi toh hai), How is life, first woe (Bliss), Love is accepted (Shree 420) Oh my heart, Jabi (time) Oh my dear country (Kabuliwala), don’t ask me how I spent the night (my face is your eyes) friendship is my faith, my life (chain), adorn me with a clever slogan (neighbor) you are the ocean of love (border).
Fans of Manna Dey’s singing
Despite being talented, some people do not get the respect or credit that they deserve. If seen from this perspective in Hindi film music, Manna Dey’s name comes first. In the era when Manna sang, every musician had a favorite singer, who used to sing most of the songs in the films. Everyone was a fan of Manna Dey’s talent, but if a song was to be filmed on a supporting hero, comedian, beggar or sadhu, Manna Dey was remembered. Manna Dey was a simple man who would sing whatever song he got. It is amazing of his talent that those songs also got popularity. [3]
Famous lyricist Prem Dhawan had said about Manna Dey that ‘Manna Dey is capable of singing songs in every range. When he plays a high note, it seems as if the whole sky is singing with him, when he plays a low note, it seems as deep as the underworld, and if he plays a medium note, it seems the whole earth is dancing with him. ‘ Manna Dey did not just sing the words, through his singing he also beautifully brought out the feelings hidden behind the words. Perhaps this is the reason why famous Hindi poet Harivansh Rai Bachchan chose Manna Dey to give voice to his immortal work Madhushala. Famous musician Anil Biswas had once said that ‘Manna Dey can sing every song sung by Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar or Mukesh. But none of them can sing every song of Manna Dey. Mohammed Rafi, the uncrowned king of the world of voice, had once said that ‘You people listen to my songs, but if I am asked, I will say that I listen only to Manna Dey’s songs.’ Mahendra Kapoor said, ‘We all still call him Manna Da. He has no equal in classical singing. Whenever the producer needed a classical singer, the first person he wanted to sing was Manna Da. It is a different matter that grandfather did not sing very many songs. I also did not get the opportunity to sing many songs with him, but whatever I sang, all of them were hits.
Honors and Awards
Manna Dey sang around 3500 songs in his career spanning five decades. The Government of India honored Manna Dey with Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri for his outstanding contribution in the field of music. Apart from this, he was also given the National Award for ‘Best Singer’ for ‘Mere Hazur’ in 1969 and ‘Best Singer’ for the Bengali film ‘Nishi Padma’ in 1971. He has also been honored with various awards by the governments of Madhya Pradesh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Orissa and Bangladesh.[4] A new chapter was added in the melodious journey of Manna Dey’s music when in recognition of his remarkable contribution to films, he was honored with the highest honor of films, Dadasaheb Phalke Award.
demise
Manna Dey died in the early morning of 24 October 2013 in a hospital in Bangalore city after a prolonged illness. 94-year-old Manna Dey was admitted to Narayana Hrudayalaya five months ago due to respiratory problems. He breathed his last at 3:50 am. His family members told that his daughter Shumita Dev and his son-in-law Gyan Ranjan Dev were present near Manna Dey in his last moments. Manna Dey has two daughters. One daughter lives in America.