Cineplot Music

Manna Dey – Part 1

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’.

Bollywood