Versatile maestro
M. L. Dhawan

MANNA DEY is the oldest link with the golden era of film music when some really creative and outstanding music was generated in the country. For over six decades, Dey’s name has been synonymous with music and melody. Excelling across a variety of genres —film songs, ghazals, bhajans, classical and pop — he has regaled generations of music lovers with his romantic ballads, zany rock ‘n’ roll numbers, playful qawwalis and intricate raga-based songs.

It was with Vijay Bhatt’s Ram Rajya (1943) that he attracted the attention of the composers with the song Gayi tu gayi Seeta sati ... .

After this song Manna Dey sang quite a number of songs but it was an era when playback singers were not given any credit, thus many songs sung by him during this period remained unnoticed. After working as assistant music director to his uncle K.C. Dey (who had lost his eyesight), and after him to Anil Biswas and Khemchand Prakash, he realised that composing music was not his cup of tea. Under the baton of S.D Burman, he recorded Upar gagan vishal ... for film Mashaal (1950). It was this song that took him to the pinnacle of glory. After this the duet Ritu aaye ritu jaaye sakhi ree/Manke meet na aaye ... (Hamdard/1953) with Lata Mangeshkar, brought him in the frontline of playback singers like Mohammad Rafi, Talat Mahmood and Mukesh.

Almost every music director turned to him whenever classical nuances were required. Such was the erudition of Manna Dey that he often added intricately woven flourishes and deflections to the compositions on his own. While recording Sur na saje kya gaaon main ..., and Bhay bhanjana vandana sun hamari ... for Basant Bahar, music directors Shankar-Jaikishan gave him just the bare outlines of the tune. All improvisations and intricacies in both the songs were his own.

In Bimal Roy’s Do Bigha Zameen (1953) Manna Dey sang Dharti kahe pukar ke ..., which was picturised on an emanciated farmer (Balraj Sahni) in the film. His hit number Chali Radhey rani ... (Parneeta/1953), was picturised on a beggar.

Unfortunately, this kind of image stuck to him as music directors summoned him to sing for character actors or for the older stars. As a result most of his numbers lacked youthful exuberance. While Talat and Mukesh went on to become the voice of Dilip Kumar and Raj Kapoor, Manna Dey was banished to compliment the acrobatics of Mahmood in songs like Ek chatur naar kar ke shingaar ..., Aao twist karen ..., Hato jaao banaao na jhoothi batian ..., Khali dabba khali bottle ..., etc.

Thus, this versatility of his voice was never explored fully and he was bound in the shackles of an image, which he struggled hard to overcome. Ironically, the label of a classical singer stunted his growth as a singer. However, it was the discerning eye of Shankar-Jaikishan, particularly of Shankar, that gave him his due in the film world. Shankar was the first music director who experimented with Manna Dey’s voice in Tere bina yeh chandani ... (Aawaaraa/1951), Yeh raat bheegi bheegi ..., Pyar hua ikraar hua ..., Dil ka haal sune dilwala ..., for films like Chori Chori, Shri 420, etc. The precedent set by Shankar-Jaikishan was instrumental in furthering Dey’s career with other music directors who, inspired by the popularity of these numbers, came forward with wide range of compositions like Tum gagan ke chandrama ho ..., Bheegi chandani ..., Har taraf ab yahi afsaane hain ... etc.

He has sung the entire gamut of emotions in his lifetime — the evergreen expression of romance in Ae meri zohra jabin ...; the defeatist, pensive Hasne ki chah ne kitna mujhe rulaya hai ...; the buoyant, happy go-lucky Yaari hai imaan mera ...; the tragic-comic Ae bhai zara dekh ke chalo ..., Anand’s Zindagi kaisi yeh paheli hai ... captures the ups and downs and ironies of life wonderfully. The existentialist, Kasme wade pyar wafa sab batein hain baton ka kya ..., brings a lump to the throat and finally Poochho na kaise main ne rain beetayee ... distils a lifetime of pain in three minutes.

The other singers of his day made successful alliances with directors, music directors or matinee idols, which gave impetus to their careers. The Lata-Madan Mohan, Naushad-Rafi, Mukesh-Raj Kapoor, Kishore Kumar-Burman combines were very successful. But Manna Dey was never involved in any such alliance.

But to point out only his film songs is to overlook Manna Dey’s oeuvre as a super performer in the richer realm outside cinema — that of geets, bhajans, and ghazals. Each geet, ghazal and bhajan that he has rendered is has a magical effect through dainty tone and pleasing timbre. Musical rendition of Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s Madhushala also occupies centrestage in his repertoire.

The deterioration that has crept into the modern day music, upsets the purist and perfectionist in him. He has not rendered his voice to any song after Duniyawalon ko nahi kuch khabar ..., which he had recorded in 2005 for Sameer Tandon for film Umar.

The 91-year-old celebrity, who ruled his genre of traditional Hindustani music for nearly seven decades, feels: "Rahman's redefinition of 'Vande Mataram' does not go with the ethos behind the song, which is a salute to your mother."

The singer is here for a private performance at a leading local club Sunday evening.

Mimicking Rahman, he said: "I fail to understand what did he mean by stretching 'Vande' too long; Vandeeeeeeeey makes no sense to me because that is not the way one would pay respect to one's mother."

"Melody has simply been compromised in re-creating 'Vande Mataram' which is not done, at least where I am concerned."

Lest he be misunderstood about being prejudiced against Rahman, he hastens to clarify: "I have nothing against Rahman; there is no doubt that he is a great musician who has created brilliant music for films like Roja, Bombay and Lagaan."

As for "Jai Ho", Manna Dey asked: "What is there in 'Jai Ho'? I do not see anything more than just another commercial twist, that has paid dividends."

He was strongly of the view that much of the modulations and twists given by Rahman were simply aimed at commercialisation of music.

"There is no dearth of talent in the country but often such talent does not get the right opportunity," he said. He does not deny that reality shows have proved to have gone a long way in affording that opportunity to the young talent.

Replying to a query on the change that he perceives between modern music directors and those belonging to the bygone era, he said: "In a nutshell, the whole process has gone haywire."

He goes on to add: "In those days, it began with conceptualising a situation, that was followed by writing the lyrics, before the music director came into the picture; but now it is the other way round, with music being created in the first place and lyricists being asked to fit words into it."

He continues to enthral with his golden voice even at the age of 90, but legendary singer Manna Dey feels today's musicians lack ingenuity.

The Dadasaheb Phalke Award winner, who gave Hindi cinema gems like Poochho Na Kaise, Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli and Upar Gagan Vishal, says a lot of hard work went into the making of a song in the old days.

"We used to rehearse for three to four days on a composition which eventually was made into a song with contributions from the music director, songwriter and film producer," Dey said.

"But this is no longer the trend in the film industry. On-the-spot song compositions make it like a factory-made product. Ingenuity is lacking," the singer said.

His advice to young singers is to adopt a regime of rehearsals to maintain the high standard of music that has been the mark of Bollywood.

"I can only pray to God Almighty to give these young singers the good sense to think how to compose and sing. Indian music has a very rich and tremendous heritage," said Dey, who performed for a sold-out 'Manna Dey in the Flesh' concert in Singapore.

Looking back at the golden period of Hindi music, Dey remembered the days of working with India's top producer and actor Raj Kapoor and his actor brother Shammi Kapoor as well as music directors Naushad, Ravi and Shanker-Jaikishen.

"There was devotion and dedication. Raj Kapoor would sit through the composition and rehearsals, and at times enact scenes to get the right tempo in the song. Phrases in songs were re-worded to ensure it created the right impact," said Dey, who sang several memorable songs in Kapoor's films like Awara, Shri 420 and Chori Chori.

"In the past, we had dedication and commitment to each and every song and music composition," he said, adding that rehearsing and recording for Raj Kapoor's film used to be a day-long industry event, which at times would start at 10am and continue till midnight.

Dey, who began singing in the early 1940s, also laments the lack of recognition for music directors and songwriters in the past. "These were the vital contributors to the final song but, alas, praises were mostly showered on the main singer," he said.

Dey, who has more than 3,500 songs to his credit, dominated the Hindi music industry from the 1950s to the 1970s with his distinctive voice since his debut with film Tamanna in 1943.

The most memorable songs by Dey include Pyaar Hua Ikraar Hua, Laga Chunri Mein Daag, Ae Meri Zohrazabi, Sur Na Saje Kya Gaun Main, Dil Ka Haal Sune Dilwala, Na To Karawan Ki Talash Hai, Aye Mere Pyare Vatan and Chunari Sambhal Gori.