If Manna Dey had lived he would be 105 today. He lived a long and fruitful life. Embracing his art with a passion that belied populist considerations, Manna Dey belted out a spectrum of rangy tunes, from ‘Phool gendva na maaro’ (Dooj Ka Chand) to ‘Aao twist kare’ (Bhoot Bungla).
“There was nothing that Mannada couldn’t do,” Lataji had once shared with me. “He was well-known for his classical numbers. But I also loved his comedy songs, especially ‘Ek chatur nar karke sringar’ in Padosan. Whenever I felt low, I listened to Mannada and Kishoreda at ‘Ek chatur naar.’ They were a laugh riot in this song.”
Lataji recalled some of her most memorable duets with Manna Dey. “Whenever I sang with him, I had to be on my toes. Many of our songs together, like ‘Yeh raat bheegi bheegi’ (Chori Chori), ‘Pyar hua iqraar hua’ (Shri 420), ‘Soch ke yeh gagan jhoome’ (Jyoti), ‘Jhoomta mausam’ (Ujala), ‘Dil ki girah khol do’ (Raat Aur Din), ‘Dharti ambar neend se jaage’ (Chaitali). But the songs that I really enjoyed singing with Mannada were ‘Aiso re paapi bichua’ (Madhumati) and ‘Chunri sambhaal gori’ (Bahaaron Ke Sapne). Mannada sailed through the folk numbers. But for me, these two songs were a challenge.”
Lataji also singled out Salil Chowdhary’s exquisite compositions in Basu Bhattacharya’s Sangat. “Mannada and I sang together in two wonderful duets, Balma mora aachra mehke re and Kanha bole na. The irony was, I was supposed to teaching him singing in these songs.”
The Nightingale felt Manna Dey got a raw deal in the Hindi film industry. “In Bangla cinema, his amazing versatility got wide coverage. But in Hindi cinema, he was not given its due. Iss baat ka Mannada ko hamesha shikwa raha.”
