Manna Dey hospitalised

Legendary singer Manna Dey is in a critical but stable condition after being admitted to a hospital in Bangalore city due to a chest infection.

The 94-year-old singer was taken to the hospital on Saturday after his health deteriorated.

Born in Kolkata, Dey, the winner of India's prestigious Dadasaheb Phalke award, currently resides in Bangalore after spending more than 50 years in Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment capital.

Dey was to record songs in memory of his wife but fell ill a few days ago. He was under medical supervision at his home in Kalyan Nagar in Bangalore but was shifted to hospital when his condition deteriorated.

Dey has recorded more than 3,500 songs in a number of languages including Bengali and Hindi and regaled 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.

His popular tracks include “Poocho Na Kaise Maine” (Meri Surat Teri Aankhen), “Ae Meri Zohra Jabeen” (Waqt), “Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli” (Anand), “Yeh Dosti” (Sholay) and “Ek Chatur Naar” (Padosan). Dey was being treated at his home for the past couple of weeks.

Among the Bangla films he has lent his voice to are "Teen Bhubaner Parey", "Stree" and "Nishipadma".