Thursday, October 24, 2013

Manna Dey-the musical manna

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 !