Manna Dey's Death Anniversary: A Look Back At The Genius's Impact On Indian Music

Manna Dey is one of India's gems in music who transcended all boundaries of Bollywood music and made a name for himself singing some of the most difficult tunes in most genres. He sang more than 4000 songs in a career spanning more than seven decades. He shot to stardom when he took on Kishore Kumar in a duel for the Sunil Dutt-starrer Padosan. Some of his other famous songs include Zindagi kaisi hai paheli from Rajesh Khanna-starrer Anand.

The legendary Manna Dey had a huge achievement to his name. He was one singer who can be credited with the success of Indian classical music in Hindi commercial movies. Music director Kalyanji had once said the industry never saw an educated singer like Manna Dey before. The way he would present a usual movie song adding all nuances of classical music, thumri and ghazal styles of singing started reaching all sections of society through commercial Hindi films.

From the 1950s to the 1970s, Dey was one of the most sought after singers. His songs like 'Laaga chunri mein daag', 'Ae mere pyare watan', 'Zindagi kaisi hai paheli' and the iconic Bengali classic 'Coffee Houser shei addata aaj aar nei' have survived the onslaught of modern genres.

Manna Dey has had a significant impact on the scenery of Indian music which was far from limiting itself within Bollywood. Here are the genius's 5 best songs:

#1. Ek Chatur Naara (Padosan, 1968): The very famous and utterly enjoyable duet by Manna Dey and Kishore Kumar is still a chartbuster. Filmed on Mehmood and Sunil Dutt for 1968 hit Padosan, the song had Manna Dey lending his voice to Mehmood and Kishore Kumar singing for Sunil Dutt.

#2. Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli (Anand, 1971)

#3. Aye Bhai Zara Dekh Ke Chalo (Mera Naam Joker, 1970)

#4. Yeh Raat Bheegi Bheegi (Chori Chori, 1956)

#5. Kaun Aaya Mere Man Ke Dwaare (Dekh Kabira Roya, 1957): Once again, the flawless singer sang a pure classical song with utmost ease for a commercial Hindi film and made it a hit. The song composed by Madan Mohan was set in Raag Raageshri, called the queen of ragas. Manna Dey’s one of the earliest hits, the song is from film Dekh Kabira Roya (1957)

Manna Dey