MANNA DEY
Famous playback singer Manna Dey added another feather in the achievement of his life, because he has been nominated for the prestigious ‘Dada Saheb Phalke award’ for the year 2007. Dey is considered as one of the greatest playback singers in Indian cinema from the 1950s to the 1970s along with Mukesh, Mohammad Rafi and Kishore Kumar. He gave his sweet voice in Hindi, Bengali and many other regional cinemas, and he has already sung more than 3500 songs during his great career. He is the winner of ‘Padma Shri’ and ‘Padma Bhushan’ award. Now the Indian Government is honoring him by giving the highest award in the field of Indian Cinema titled ‘Dadasaheb Phalke Award’ for his lifetime contribution in the field of Indian cinema. The award will be given to this 90-year-old singer on 21st October by President Pratibha Patil .
BIOGRAPHY
Legendary singer Manna Dey was born on 1st May,1919 in Kolkata as the third son of Purna Chandra and Mahamaya Dey. He gained his school education from ‘Scottish Church Collegiate School’ and gained graduation from ‘Vidyasagar College’. In his childhood, he had shown interest in sports including wrestling and boxing. At the same time, he was inspired by his uncle, the famous music teacher K.C.Dey. In College days, he taught musical lessons from his uncle. In 1942, Dey moved to Bombay with his uncle. In Bombay, he was worked as an assistant under his uncle and then under Sachin Dev Burman. After that, he assisted other music composers and then started to work independently. In that time, he taught musical lessons from Ustad Aman Ali Khan and gained proficiency in the classical music. In 1943, he started his career as a playback singer by singing a wonderful duet song paired with famous singer Suraiya in the movie “Tamanna”. The whole nation loved this song, and he became famous for the people. In his second film “Mashaal“, he sang a solo track named “Upar Gagan Vishal”, which was also another hit song. In 1952, he gave his sweet voice for the film “Amar Bhupali” which appointed him as a leading playback singer. After that this talented singer sung many songs in many different languages and has given stage performances throughout the world. Aye Meri Zhora’ (Waqt), ‘Kasme Waade Pyar’ (Upkaar), ‘Mud Mud Ke Na Dekh’ (Shree 420), Poocho Na Kaise (Teri Surat Meri Anken), ‘Aye Mere Pyaare’(Kabuliwala),’Teri Surat Meri Anken’, ‘Zindagi Kaisi Hai’(Anand) are some of his popular songs. He was worked with great singers like Bhimsen Joshi for the song ‘Ketaki Gulab Juhi’, Kishore Kumar for the songs like “Yeh Dosti” (Sholay) and “Ek Chatur Naar” (Padosan), Lata Mangeshkar for the song “Ke Prothom Kachhe Esechi” and Bengali legendary singer Hemant Kumar. He is married to Sulochana Kumaran and they have two daughters Shuroma and Sumita. His Bengali-language autobiography, “Jiboner Jalsaghorey” has been published in English as “Memories Come Alive”, in Hindi as “Yaden Jee Uthi” and in Marathi as “Jiboner Jalsaghorey”. Now this living legend, lives in Bangalore and still travels widely in the world to present musical programs. Manna Dey is really a versatile singer and no one can imitate his versatility.
AWARDS AND HONORS
Versatile singer Manna Dey had gained many awards and honors in his life. He gained the ‘National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer’ in the year 1969, 1971, 2004. He also gained ‘Lata Mangeshkar Award’ awarded by Government of Madhya Pradesh, ‘Sangeet Swarnachurr Award’ awarded by Shree Khetra Kala Prakashika, Puri, ‘Life Time Achievement award’ by Government of Maharashtra, ‘Michale Sahittyo Puraskar’ awarded by Renaissance Sanskritik Parishad, Dhaka, ‘P.C.Chandra Award’ by P.C.Chandra Group & others, ‘Kamala Devi Roy Award’ by Kamala Devi Group, ‘2001 Anandalok Lifetime Award’ by Anandabazar Group, ‘Special Jury Swaralaya Yesudas Award’ for outstanding performance in music, ‘Alauddin Khan Award’ by Government of West Bengal, ‘D.Litt Honouris Causa’ by Burdwan University, Rabindra Bharati University and Jadavpur University. Indian Government honored him by giving ‘Padma Shri Award’ in 1971 and ‘Padma Bhushan Award’ in 2005. Now, he gained another award titled ‘Dadasaheb Phalke Award’ for the year 2007.
