Manna Dey no more
Manna Dey
Legendary playback singer Manna Dey, one of Indian cinema’s golden voices, died today after prolonged illness.
Dey, 94, died of cardiac arrest at speciality hospital Narayana Hrudayalaya in southern Indian city of Bangalore at 3:50am today, reports our Delhi correspondent quoting a senior doctor at the hospital.
He was admitted to the hospital five months ago for respiratory problems.
Dey had been in and out of hospital for the last few months and was on dialysis in September.
The singer’s daughter Sumita Deb and his son-in-law Jnanranjan Deb were by his side when the end came, his family said.
He is survived by two daughters one of whom is based in the US.
Dey’s wife Sulochana died last year.
Born Prabodh Chandra Dey in 1919 in Kolkata, Dey sang in many Indian languages including Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati, Punjabi and Bhojpuri.
Trained in classical songs and having recorded more than 3,500 songs in a number of languages including Bengali and Hindi, he had cast a magic on generations of listeners with his romantic ballads, intricate raga-based songs, Qawwalis and fast-paced modern numbers, lending his voice to a number of Hindi and Bengali film stars including Uttam Kumar and Rajesh Khanna.
The most distinctive feature of Dey was the ease with which he modulated his voice according to the thematic requirement of a particular word or line containing the emotions. It seemed like the rising and falling gentle waves of the backwater of a sea.
His popular Bangla tracks include both film and non-film numbers like “Aami jey jolsha ghorey”and “Aami Jamini tumi soshi hey” in the film “Antony Firngi”, “Aami kon kotha jey boli”, “Ora je jaa boley boluk naa” (Nishi Padma).
Among his memorable Hindi numbers, some of the notable ones are -- Poocho Na Kaise Maine (film Meri Surat Teri Aankhen), Ae Meri Zohra Jabeen (Waqt), Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli(Anand), Yeh Dosti (Sholay) and Ek Chatur Naar (Padosan) and Laga Chunari Mein Daag (Dil Hi Toh Hai), “Meri Naina Talash karey tujhey”(Talash) , Yaari Hain Imaan Mera Yaar Meri Zindagi (Zanzeer), Kasmey Vadey Pyar Wafa Sab (Upkaar) among others.
Comments