The country remembers great Manna Dey on his death anniversary.

The country remembers the great singer Manna Dey on his death anniversary on 24th October, 2014. Last year he died at this time of the year making everyone sad. During 1950s and 1960s, Mohammad Rafi ruled bollywood music and used to be considered the uncrowned monarch of playback singing. Some of the most legendary songs of the decade were sung by Rafi including “man tarpat hari darshan” in film Baiju Bawra composed by Naushad Ali, “ajahu na aye balma sawan bita jay” in film Beti Bete composed by Shankar Jaikishan. During that decade Manna Dey, the classical singer having huge range and brilliant control was used to sing difficult songs. Shankar Jaikishan exploited the excellent talent of Manna Dey in the best way. In Raj Kapoor’s film Shree 420, Manna Dey’s songs like “dil ka haal sune dilwala”, “pyar hua ikraar hua hai” and “mur mur ken a dekh” had romantic andaz. Same were the songs in Raj Kapoor’s Chori Chori where Manna Dey sang “yeh raat bhigi bhigi”, “jahan bhi jati hu”, “aaja sanam madhur chandni me ham”. Manna Dey was famous for his classical andaz. Shankar Jaikishan used the talent in Bharat Bhushan’s film Basant Bahar in the songs “ketki” and “sur na saje kya gayun mai”. SJ and Manna Dey combination stormed bollywood in Balraj Sahani’s Seema with the song “tu pyar ka saagar hai”. Manna Dey’s classical andaz was used in Shammi Kapoor’s Janwar in the song “ankho ankho se” and Raj Kumar’s film Mere Huzoor in the song “jhanak jhanak”. Manna Dey SJ created magic in Rajender Kumar’s film Zindagi titled “muskura ladle muskura”. His folk andaz was used by SJ in Raj Kapoor’s film Teesri Kasam in the song “chalet musafir”. SJ and Manna Dey were sublime in Raj Kapoor’s Mera Naam Joker as well in the song “ai bhai zara dekhke chalo”. Shankar Jaikishan after giving due respect to Mohammad Rafi, Mukesh, Talat Mehmood and others did absolute justice to Manna Dey’s classical talent. It was sad that Jaikishan expired in 1971, otherwise the magic combination of SJ with Manna Dey would have continued. The songs and the films require publicity.