Passing
away of Manna Dey , the legendary singer at the ripe old age of 94
in the wee hours today has left a void in the classical style singing
as far as film music is concerned. Though light classical was his
forte, he was equally well versed in qawwalis, chorus and duets. My
late father, no fan of film music was often heard humming-laga chunri
mein daag chhupaoon kaisey - a Manna Dey
song from the film Dil Hi To Hai .
Who can forget his duets with
Lata Mangeshkar sang for the film Chori Chori like aja sanam madhur chaandni mein hum & pyar hua iqrar hua hai pyar se phir kyun darta hai dil ! The qawwali- Na To
Caravan ki Talash Hai ; Yaari hai Imaan mera yaar meri Zindagi , and
the songs- ai meri juhr zabeen ; dil ka hal sune dil wala; apne liye
jiye to kya jiye ; tu pyar ka sagar hai , kasame vaade pyar wafa are
some of the many gems from his musical treasure.His song , yeh kahani hai deeye ki aur toofan ki was most soulfully sung by him. He was deservedly
awarded with Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Dada Saheb Phalke Award for his immense contribution to the world of music .
Shraddhanjali !