Legendary singer Manna Dey has been an inspiration for singers and musicians. Many singers consider the legend their idol,
especially for his dedication towards music.
Like the common music lovers, leading singers and composers say that Manna Dey’s evergreen songs have the power to touch all human emotions.
In a career spanning over five decades, Manna Dey, who died on Thursday in Bangalore in India at the age of 94, recorded over 3,500 songs in Bangla, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada and Assamese.
Many local singers and composers had worked with the legend and had personal interactions with Manna Dey. They expressed their emotions to New Age.
‘He was such a perfectionist that even though I was happy as composer of a playback Manna Dey, he pushed me for a retake of the last two lines of the song titled Nacho nacho used in a Ashok Ghose’s film released in the 1980s,’ said composer Alauddin Ali, who could not however, remember the name of the film.
‘I never saw such a serious artiste in rehearsal. After rehearsal of two days, he again rehearsed for hours before the final take. And after the recording, he listened to the song and continued recording until he was satisfied,’ Alauddin Ali said adding that Manna Dey also lent voice to another playback composed by Alam Khan for another Bangladeshi film released almost at the same time.
‘He was a legend and set a history by creating a new genre by infusing Indian classical music in a modern framework,’ Alauddin Ali told New Age.
A leading playback singer Sabina Yasmin terms Manna Dey as her companion in happiness and even in sadness. ‘Be in happy or sad mood, I listen to his songs. I’m really shocked when I heard the news of his demise in this morning.’
Terming Manna Dey a great inspiration of her career Sabina said, ‘I met him once in a recording studio in Kolkata in 1980s where he suggested me to give emphasis on classical music and to be regular in music practice. I still follow his advice. And I always tried to practice his great songs authentically, but that was a challenging task,’ Sabina added.
Recalling her memory with Manna Dey at the legend’s show in the Commonwealth Centre in London, another leading playback singer Runa Laila, said, ‘He was a noble soul and a great singer. He could sing all genres of songs with equal command. But, his ability of rendering classical music based songs was unique. He will survive in his songs.’
Celebrated singer Shahnaz Rahmatullah evaluates Manna Dey terming him an all time great. ‘He was legend in the music arena of the subcontinent. His songs are really difficult to render perfectly.’
Supplementing Shahnaz, popular singer Andrew Kishore said, ‘He is the best singer of his time not only in Bangla music but also in Hindi film song.’
To the popular singer Kumar Biswajit, Manna Dey is an idol. ‘I consider him as one of my two idols along with Kishore Kumar. They created the base and we are now experimenting on their set examples. Moreover, he was a wonderful personality. I met him in a residence in the late 1990s in Toronto in Canada and I saw him lamenting for not being able to do something, despite his great success. I try to follow his humbleness’
Even the band musicians of the country frequently render Manna Dey’s evergreen song Coffee house-r sei addata. ‘Manna Dey will always be a source of inspiration for all types of the singers in the country,’ a leading band musician Partho Borua told New Age.
-With New Age input
