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Manna Dey - a legend of Glory

It was almost half a century ago, when Prabodh Chandra Dey, now famous as Manna Dey fresh from Vidyasagar College in Kolkata, was in two minds about whether to make music and singing his career or take up a job for a living. His Father Purna Chandra Dey, a Chartered Accountant, wanted his son, a Bachelor of Arts, to be a Barrister. Prabodh, like countless young students of Kolkata, was under the mesmeric spell of his uncle Krishna Chandra Dey, who was a well-known singer and popular star of New Theatres. The uncle took his nephew as his disciple. Who knew then that it would make such a huge difference in the world of Bangla or Indian music?

The youngster grew up listening to the soft strains of baul songs, Rabindrasangeet and khayal. His guru Krishna Chandra Dey would put his nephew through the paces, acquainting him with the subtleties of tappa, thumri, bhajan and qawwali. Apart from honing his disciple's vocal skills, he also taught him languages, literature and poetry. After his training was complete Manna Dey like many of his contemporaries made a beeline to Mumbai in 1942 to try his luck as a playback singer.

Manna Dey’s initial steps in the world of film music:

In Mumbai, Manna Dey started off as assistant to music director H.P.Das. However, it was, again, K.C.Dey’s intervention that flagged off his career as playback singer. Vijay Bhatt of Prakash Pictures wanted K.C.Dey to record a song for Ram-Rajya, Bhatt's ambitious venture. The elder Dey flatly refused, but, proposed his nephew’s name instead. Music director Shankar Rao Vyas although skeptical initial was pleased when he heard the young singer. After a few rehearsals, the 24-year-old crooner rendered his first song, which fetched him, a princely fee of Rs.150.

Years of struggle followed, at times compelling the talented singer to wonder if he was on the right track. ‘I even thought of going back to Kolkata and doing my law,’ he added. However, ‘Upar gagan vishaal’ from ‘Mashaal‘, became a super hit and he decided to stay on in Mumbai.

In Kolkata for Bangla songs, recognition came late in the mid 60's. The Bengali audience was spellbound by the mellifluous sweetness of Shyamal and the golden voice of Hemanta, and for a long time had a closed ear on Manna. However, once he established himself there was no looking back. His Bengali compositions are all masterpieces -- 'Baaje go bina', 'Bendhona phool-o-mala dore', 'Aami je jalsaghare', 'Kaharba noi dadra bajao', 'Behaag jodi na hoy raaji', 'She amar chhoto bon' and of course the immortal "Coffee Houser sei addata". Belated recognition and a low trajectory of his career graph hardly bother Manna Dey. His gentle low-key approach never matched the pomp and pettiness of filmdom. 'Stubbornly unwilling to croon to the vulgar ditties to the accompaniment of an unwieldy orchestra, the veteran indulges in spending time in his own music room recollecting the legacy of the Golden Era of Film Music

In Mumbai, the success of ‘Mashaal’ brought success and fame. Songs such as ‘Yeh raat bheegi bheegi’ and ‘Aaja sanam madhur chandani mein hum’ from Chori Chori ‘Aye mere pyaare watan’ from Kabuliwala, ‘Dil kaa haal sune dilwala’ and ‘Mud mud ke naa dekh, mud mudke’ from Shree 420, ‘Tu pyaar ka sagar hai’ from Seema catapulted Manna Dey to dizzy heights of success.

By heart, Manna Dey is always a Mohun Bagani. Very often he expresses this feeling of his for the National Club of India, to the media. The Club paid him the tribute by choosing him as the inaugurator for the room named for the Living legend Sailen Manna. We want to keep the memory of this living legend, golden voice, a true son of Bangla and a true green and maroon fan for the entire month of June in our website.

                                                             Arunima Chattopadhyay - June 2004     

                                                                       (The writer is a co-editor of www.mohunbaganclub.com)

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