1st May 1919-24th Oct 2013
The most popular male playback singers in Hindi films from late 1940’s till 80’s were : Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh , Kishore Kumar , Manna Dey , Talat Mehmood, and Mahendra Kapoor. Among them , Rafi & Kishore definitely have a great fan following, while Talat Mehmood and Mukesh, created their own niche and have a dedicated set of listeners. However, it is indeed surprising to note that although Manna Dey sang more songs than Mukesh and Talat Mehmood, relatively he is less-talked about. Prabodh Chandra Dey, popularly known as Manna Dey , though much respected & admired for his strong classical base and some memorable romantic & philosophical songs , did not have a large fan-following . Even I am guilty of writing about him only after my blogs on Rafi, Kishore, Talat & Mukesh! . This lapse of mine is purely unintentional but somewhat reflects the general perception. One possible reason for this could be due to the fact that most of his songs were picturized as background/title songs or on a character/obscure actor. Of course, Raj Kapoor was the notable exception for whom MD( I will refer to him henceforth in this article as MD) sang many great songs ,albeit after Mukesh, who was his main voice. So , with due apologies to one of the most talented and classically well-trained legendary singer Manna Da , as he is affectionately called, I shall try to do some justice for the inadvertent lapse on my part!
I have also taken up quite a large number of songs as each and every one of them is a classic. Like Mukesh & Talat, for MD also, quality overpowered quantity. Very few of his songs can be considered as mediocre. That really puts lot of pressure for a blog writer in selecting his best!
Prabodh Chandra Dey was born on 1st May 1, 1919, which makes him older in age to Rafi , Mukesh and Talat by 4-5 years and Kishore by 10 years. His mother Mahamaya & father Purna Chandra Dey influenced him a lot in music during his early years. Later, he was trained by his paternal uncle Krishna Chandra Dey from whom he learnt classical music formally. Apart from his uncle he had training under Ustad Aman Ali Khan, who was a classical composer and vocalist under the Bhendi Bazaar Gharana. These learnings made him the singer with the best classically trained voice in Hindi film music.
MD started assisting his uncle K.C Dey and later S.D. Burman , who incidentally learned music from his uncle along with him in early years. After a stint in assisting other music directors and even working as independent music composer , he got his first singing break through the song “Gayi tu gayi Seeta sati” in the film Ram Rajya, 1943, under the music direction of Shankar Rao Vyas. Although he sang few other songs for other music directors , it was in 1950, with the song Upar Gagan Vishal for the film Mashal, under the music direction of S.D Burman , that MD got his major break.
In the years that followed , two songs-Dharti Kahe Pukarke – Mausam beeta jaaye and Hariyala Sawan Dhol Bajata Aaya from the 1953 film Do Bhiga Zameen brought him more fame. The great music maestros Shankar-Jaikishan ( S-J) , especially Shankar was instrumental in giving MD some of his career best songs and also brought a new facet of his singing to the fore -romantic duets. His songs from the Raj Kapoor films like Shree 420, Chori Chori( Pyaar Hua Ekraar Hua Hai, Aaja Sanam Madhur Chandini mein Hum, Yeh raat bheegi , etc ) are still fresh in everyone’s mind.
MD himself has talked about in great lengths about the contribution of Shankar in boosting his career and so my blog is arranged in two parts. The first part is on some of his best songs (13) with S-J and the second part , 20 of his songs with 17 other music directors .
With approximately 3000+ songs in Hindi films in career spanning a glorious 50 years , MD has left for us a legacy of some of the best classical , philosophical, romantic, and soulful melodies and it is indeed a difficult task to list out 33 from them. Song, name of film and its year of release, lyricist and co-singers is the sequence followed.
PART 1-Manna Dey with Shankar-Jaikishan
Shankar-Jaikishan
The music duos , Shankar Singh Raghuvanshi and Jaikishan Dayabhai Panchal ruled the Hindi film music world for two decades , with so many unforgettable melodies. Although they had worked primarily with Rafi & Mukesh, without any doubt, they played a major role in giving a major boost to MD career. MD himself has talked a great deal about this and it really pains me to see in some books and blog sites, that this fact is ignored. That is the reason I have taken up the listing into two separate parts. It was Shankar who insisted that only MD should render the song Sur Na Saje Kya Gaaon Mein from Baiju Bawara although the producer, director wanted Rafi to sing. Similarly , when the producer of the film Chori Chori wanted only Mukesh to sing all the songs as he was the natural choice for Raj Kapoor, it was once again Shankar who insisted that the producer should listen to MD ’s songs and then decide. The songs of Chori Chori turned out to be the best evergreen duets and proved the faith that Shankar had in MD to render even romantic songs. I am sure after listening to them , one can appreciate the immense variety in MD ’s singing and what a great role S-J played in his career.
- Lapak Jhapak-Boot Polish -1954-Hasrat Jaipuri
One of the earliest associations of MD with S-J. His classical strength has been utilised so nicely by S-J. Only a great character actor like David can pull off a superb on-screen enactment , sitting inside a jail and entertaining his fellow jail-mates. A timeless classic that is now very rarely heard.
2. Ab Kahan Jaayen hum-Ujala-1959-Shailendra
The film Ujala is unique for the fact that it had Shammi Kapoor in a sober role , long before his Elvis Presley style rock & roll star image . In the film Ujala , instead of Rafi , who later became the de-facto voice of Shammi Kapoor, Mukesh and MD did the honours. This song is remarkable for the fact that S-J utilized the chorus as the main orchestration , along with MD ’s soulful rendition of Shailendra’s superb lyrics.
3. Yeh raat bheegi bheegi-Chori Chori-1956-Shailendra-With Lata Mangeshkar
The film Chori Chori can be considered as a landmark for MD for the two greatest duets he had sung with Lata-Aaja Sanam Madhur Chandini and Yeh Raat Bheegi Bheegi. Apart from this there were Jahan Mein Jati Hoon and also a great humming by MD in Pancchi banoon Udti phiroon. This was the film in which the producer ( AVM films from south) had initially insisted that only Mukesh should sing, but it was Shankar who pitched in strongly for MD and ultimately turned out to be great musical hit. The duets in this film proved that MD can render romantic songs with equal finesse as the classical , bhajans, philosophical ones that he was stereotyped into.
4. Tu Pyar ka sagar hai-Seema-1955-Shailendra
One can appreciate why I had devoted a separate section for MD ’s songs with the great S-J as some of the career best songs of the former came from this golden duo. Poignant lyrics by the great Shailendra brought to life by MD ’s superb singing.
5. Jhanak Jhanak Tori Baaje Payaliya-Mere Huzoor-Hasrat Jaipuri
Whenever the best classical based songs of MD are talked about, this one will always be there at the top five. A masterly Darbari Kanada raag based composition , that etched MD ’s name in golden letters in the annals of Hindi film music.
6. Ketaki Gulab Juhi Champak-Basant Bahar-1956-Shailendra-With Pt. Bhimsen Joshi
I had to include all the three songs from this milestone film for both MD and S-J. Many would have heard the story behind this song narrated by the legend himself. How he had even thought of running away to Pune to escape from singing this song that was picturized as a competition song with the legendary classical singer Pandit Bhimsen Joshi. Ultimately his wife insisted that he should give all his best and not to lose heart. What an evergreen masterpiece this turned out to be!
7.. Sur Na Saje Kya Gaaon Mein-Basant Bahar-1956-Shailendra
Similar to how Shankar fought for MD in Chori Chori, he had strongly pitched for him against the wishes of the producer-director who wanted Rafi to sing this song as it was picturized on Bharat Bhushan. Shankar had insisted that he had composed Sur Na Saje only with MD in mind . It is well known that S-J had composed some of the best songs for Mukesh and Rafi but those days, the composers knew who was the best choice for a particular song and were truly great to stick to their beliefs. That is why we got such immortal songs from them with different singers.
8.. Bhay Bhanjana Vanna-Basant Bahar-1956-Shailendra
A song that appears to be simple , but one has to listen intently to appreciate how difficult it is to sing and really wonder at MD ’s ability to make it so easy. Whenever I listen to this song, my eyes automatically become moist. The power of the tune and MD ’s rendition truly moves you. The last part of the song is never heard in the audio versions-please do listen to that in the link provided below.
9.. Dil Ka Haal-Shree 420-1955-Shailendra
It is to the credit of S-J to bring to limelight, MD ’s ability to sing lighter, folksy songs . What a simple tune and orchestration , with MD going all out and making it a great song, suitably aided by Shailendra’s poetry that conveys life’s philosophy in a language that even a layman can understand.
10. Chalat Musafir-Teesri Kasam-1966-Shailendra
The combination of MD & S-J come out with another iconic folk song , that is so infectiously catchy that you feel like taking a dholak and sing along.
11. Dil Ki Girah Khol do-Raat Aur Din-1967-Shailendra-With Lata Mangeshkar
Long before R D Burman made MD sing some western style songs like Aao twist kare, it was S-J who gave this beautiful waltz , that can even be counted among the top most romantic songs of Hindi films.
12. Re Man Sur Mein Gaa-Lal Pathar-1971-Neeraj-With Asha Bhonsle
A hidden gem from the film Lal Pathar that had two other memorable songs -Geet gaata hoon mein by Kishore and Unke Khayal aaye tho by Rafi. I fail to understand why such songs are almost forgotten now and very rarely heard . Asha and MD show their superb strength in the classical genre.
13. Kaal Ka Pahiya Ghoome Bhaiyya-Chanda Aur Bijili-1969-Gopaldas Neeraj
I conclude the section on MD ‘s immortal association with the great maestros Shankar-Jaikishan with this scintillating bhajan . Neeraj and S-J had a great association , especially with Shankar. The lyrics , simple but superb tune and a classic rendition by MD make this one of the greatest bhajans. Neeraj conveys profound philosophy in this song…this is almost an eight-minute song that appears in the film at various scenes. Songs like these are “ Made for MD ”!
PART 2-Manna Dey with Other composers
Even at the risk of making this blog too lengthy , I have chosen as many as 13 songs from the golden team of S-J and MD and again 20 songs by other music directors. Even this is not an exhaustive list as many gems might be missed out! The immense variety & quality in MD ’s repertoire definitely deserves an elaborate listing.
Although I waxed eloquently about the golden combination of MD & S-J, his songs with many other legendary music directors are no way inferior. It has always been my goal to showcase all the great artists without any bias. I hope readers will be able to appreciate the multi-faceted singing of MD with 17 different music composers. Except for S.D.Burman, Kanu Roy and Salil Chowdhury, I have selected only one song per composer. The listing is arranged based on alphabetical order of the music director’s name with each song having the film, year , lyricist, and any co-singer mentioned in that order.
C.Ramachandra
Mere Jeevan Mein Kiran banke-Talaq-1958-Kavi Pradeep
Chitalkar Ramachandra himself was a good singer and rendered many songs and whenever he chose other singer he preferred Talat Mehmood to a great extent and Rafi to a lesser extent. As such MD ’s association with CR was very limited. This lilting duet is a signature CR style , with that tabla tempo changing so nicely in the first antara . Few other songs from this pair are Insaan ka insaan se ho bhaichara from the film Paigam and Tu chupi Hai Kahan from Navrang.
Dattaram Gaikwad
Masti Bhara Yeh Sama-Parvarish-1958- Hasrat Jaipuri-With Lata Mangeshkar
Dattaram Gaikwad, who assisted Shankar-Jaikishan for their percussion arrangement , individually composed some superb songs. Film Parvarish was one of his masterpieces -who can forget Mukesh’s soulful Aansoo bhari hai yeh Jeevan ki rahen?! . Like how S-J utilized MD ’s vocals for some of the best romantic duets, Dattaram proves he is no less than his mentors with this song. That accordion interlude is simply out of the world!
Jaidev
Chale Jaa Rahen Hai Mohobbat Ke Mare-Kinare Kinare-1964- -Nyay Sharma
Jaidev was one music director who never latched on to any particular singer and had composed wonderful songs with many male & female playback singers. The film Kinare Kinare, for e.g., had three great songs -Chale Jaa Rahen Hain by MD , Mukesh’s Jab gam-e-ishq satata hai to hans leta hoon, Rafi’s mesmerizing Teri Tasveer Bhi Tujh jaisi and Talat’s Dekh Li Teri Khudayee. Truly great achievement of Jaidev to give superb songs to all the four legends in one single film.
Kalyanji-Anandji
Kasme vade pyaar wafa-Upkaar-1967- Indeevar
An iconic song that gave a completely new image to the great actor Pran who, till then was known for his negative roles only. With bare minimum orchestration, Kalyanji-Anandji gave MD one of his best songs ever. As the cliché goes, imitation is the best form of flattery-the well-known music maestro from South , Ilayaraja , who is an institution by himself , and has very rarely taken other tunes , was very much inspired by this song. He took this entire song into a Tamil film with the legendary K.J Yesudas rendering Kanavu Kaanum Vaazhkai Yaavum.
Kanu Roy
Phir Kahin Koi Phool Khila-Anubhav-1971- -Kapil Kumar
Hindi film world sadly ignored many genius artists. Whenever I listen to the songs of Kanu Roy, I feel that how the industry failed to give more opportunities to him. His songs in the film Anubhav, Avishkar and Grihapravesh and even his very first film Uski Kahani -all are hidden gems. Few years back good old Vividh Bharati used to play these, but looks like now-a-days, even they have forgotten him!
I have included both the masterpieces he composed for MD as they are simply out of this world ! Brings out MD ’s voice is such a beautiful way.
Hasne ki chaah ne itna-Aavishkar-1974-Kapil Kumar
An offbeat film for the first super-star of Hindi films, Rajesh Khanna, this is a masterpiece from Kanu Roy & MD . Written by a relatively unknown lyricist Kapil Kumar, the words are truly profound. A lifetime best rendition by the legend.
Laxmikant -Pyarelal
Tum gagan ke chandrama-Sati Savitri-1964- -Bharat Vyas-With Lata Mangeshkar
Many-a-times it so happens that a gem of a song is composed for a relatively obscure film. Laxmikant & Pyarelal come out with a classic duet , written in chaste Hindi by the venerable Kavi Bharat Vyas.
Madan Mohan
Kaun aaya mere man ke dware-Dekh Kabira Roya-1957- Rajendra Krishan
Madan Mohan, being the Ghazal king, worked mostly with Talat & Rafi for his exquisite ghazals but when he wanted to compose a classical song in Raag Rageshri, it is obvious that he chose MD . It is really to the credit of MD that even with few songs that he could get from a composer, he made it a memorable one for himself and for the composer.
Naushad
Jundariya Katati Jaaye Re-Mother India -1957-Shakeel Badayuni
For the maestro Naushad, it was mostly Rafi among male playback singers and Lata among the female singers. Although these are, no doubt ,immortal golden songs, one does feel that Naushad could have utilized MD in more number of classical songs. Both were so adept in the classical genre that one fails to understand why he composed only a handful of solo songs for MD . But still , the maestro did compose few memorable songs for MD like this one from the epic film Mother India.
O.P.Nayyar
Tu Hai Mera Prem Devata-Kalpana-1960–Qamar Jalalabadi-With Mohd Rafi
One more example of a composer not having worked much with MD . For OPN’s style it was always Rafi and later, when he fell out with Rafi for a brief period , he composed some great songs with Mahindra Kapoor, Mukesh & Kishore. For this rare male-male duet set in raag Lalit , his natural choice was MD apart from Rafi. A superb duet in which MD , obviously excels, but Rafi , even if comparatively less trained in classic music as compared to the former, renders it in his own soulful manner.
Rahul Dev Burman
Aayo Kahan Se Ganshyam-Buddha Mil Gaya-1971- -Majrooh Sultanpuri
Whenever Pancham composes a song strongly rooted in classical raag, it is always a delightful one to hear. Personally , I mostly prefer such compositions of R D Burman rather than the ones he is usually famous for . Pancham also gave MD some western style and outrageously comical songs like Aao Twist Karen and Ek Chatur Naar Karke Singaar.
Ravi Shankar Sharma
Ae Mere Zohra Jabeen-Waqt-1965- -Sahir Ludhianvi
Like many other music composers, for Ravi also , MD had sung few songs only. For Ravi , it was mostly Rafi followed by Mahindra Kapoor. But as we had observed earlier in the blog, whatever MD sang, became a milestone song . This is a perennial favourite whenever a wedding song or a romantic one at a mature age theme is talked about.
Ravindra Jain
Door Hai Kinara- Saugar-1973- Music & Lyrics
To the best of my knowledge this is the best song from the rare combination of MD & the great music director-cum- lyricist Ravindra Jain. A typical “ Maajhi”-boatsman song , one more example of a great song that is now very rarely heard. To be very frank, till the time of writing this blog, I never knew this was composed by Ravindra Jain! A hidden gem.
Roshan Lal Nagarath
Laga Chunri Menin Daag-Dil Hi Toh Hai-1963- Sahir Ludhianvi
Whenever one talks about MD ’s songs this is always at the top. What else can one expect from Roshan -he composed the career best songs for all the legendary singers -Rafi, Talat & Mukesh and for MD , this can be considered as the Mt Everest. Even today, if there is a singing competition, aspiring singers would always like to attempt this to prove their mettle. With the great poet Sahir coming with superlative metaphors and MD ’s ‘out-of-the world’ taans towards the end of the song, this song can never be explained. One has to keep listening again and again and immerse oneself into it fully. Of course, there is one more great qawwali that Roshan had composed for MD that he sang along with Rafi, Asha , S.D Batish and Sudha Malhotra-Na to caarvaan ki talash-Yeh Ishq hai -I had written a very elaborate note on this song in my blog on Roshan-Sahir team combination.
Sachin Dev Burman
Poocho Na Kaise- Meri Surat Teri Ankhen-1963- -Shailendra
The most famous and intense composition of S.D. Burman for MD is Poocho Na Kaise. Set in Raag Ahir Bhairav, this soulful and stirring rendition by MD definitely deserved an award which unfortunately he did not get ( there are many such glaring omissions in these awards!). One of the best from this team who were ‘guru-bhai,’ both having learnt music from MD ’s uncle K.C Dey.
Tere Naina Talash Kare Jise-Talash -1969-Majrooh Sultanpuri
An equally scintillating classical composition as Poocho Na Kaise, but this one is relatively less-talked about. The use of tabla and mridangam by SDB and MD ’s effortless singing makes this an evergreen one.
Salil Chowdhury
Ae mere pyare watan/ Kabuliwala-1961- -Prem Dhawan
Ranked among the topmost patriotic songs, this remains one of the most soulful & famous renditions by MD . The way he conveys the pathos from the heart of a man yearning for his homeland shows that he could convey all types of emotions.
Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli-Anand -1971-Yogesh
It took almost 10 years after Ae mere pyare watan for Salil Chowdhury to offer MD one more landmark composition. Film Anand is well known for excellent songs of Salil and this one, written so beautifully by Yogesh, picturised in the yester-year pristine Juhu beach of Mumbai is permanently etched in everyone’s memory.
Usha Khanna
Apne Liye Jiye To kya jiye- Bal-1966-Javed Anwar
Usha Khanna is the lone , commercially successful female music director in the golden era of Hindi film music. Before her there were Jaddan Bai and Saraswati Devi, who belonged to the vintage era, i.e., pre-1940’s. In her songs one can observe influence of various other music directors’ style, which she herself had talked about. One can easily mistake this to be a Shankar-Jaikishan style composition. Written by her father ( Manohar Khanna) under the pseudonym Javed Anwar , this is a memorable song of MD that is almost forgotten now-a-days. Nice philosophical lines , rendered with full energy by MD.
Vasant Desai
Nirbhal se lai balwan ki-Toofan Aur Diya-1956- -Bharat Vyas
It is only once in a lifetime we come across such epic compositions. Written by the great Kavi Bharat Vyas that describes the struggle of the weak or supressed against the mighty & powerful, each and every word is not written, but sculpted. With MD ’s powerful vocals and one more genius , Vasant Desai composing a power-packed tune , these songs should be played more often. Sadly, these are almost faded into oblivion. For me , whenever I hear this song, it motivates me immensely. This is one of those songs that is almost more than 6 minutes long and plays in the background in the film at different stages. By sheer co-incidence of being the last song in alphabetical order, this is the right song to end the blog. No one else could have delivered the powerful lyrics of this song like MD .
Acknowledgements and Disclaimer:
I sincerely thank the publishers of following blogsites & Internet sources for the information that I could gather for this article:
- You Tube
- Wikipedia
- www.geetmanjusha.com
The songs mentioned are from the popular, public domain and have been mentioned and embedded here only for the listening pleasure of the music lovers. This blog does not claim any copyright over them, which rests with the respective owners of the rights. I would also like to thank various blogs-articles published in the Internet from which I had obtained many information while writing this.
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