Manna Dey: A legend who chose to sing for the people and reside in their hearts

By: Prasoon Joshi

Manna Dey was one of the legends of India's playback singing tradition, crossing musical genres and languages with unrestrained felicity. He died on Thursday in Bangalore at the age of 94, leaving behind an enormous body of work. In this tribute, ad man, lyricist and scriptwriter Prasoon Joshi explores his contribution and explains why he was more than just a playback singer.

In this country, if there has been one department of our film industry that has been exceptional -- of course among various things to be proud of -- it is the music of our films.

Manna Dey's songs talk about the philosophy of life. Songs like Zindagi/ Kaisi hai paheli hai... It's not just a piece of entertainment, it's the philosophy of life. It tells people about an attitude towards life. Music of our films has played a significant role in shaping the popular culture of the country, it's given people a vocabulary, an expression. When we talk about Manna Dey today, we talk about those songs. What impresses me is the philosophical part of the songs he sang - Kasme waade pyaar wafaa sab. These are not esoteric songs. If you translate them into English, a foreigner would think if the common man here really does listen to such profound songs. This is literature.

On the other side is his classical touch. Classical music was always enjoyed by a select few in our country. But look at Manna Dey's music and how he has bridged the gap between classical music and the common man. He also brought the qawwali to the common man. The most memorable qawwali of course is Ae meri zohra jabeen. You see him also doing the most romantic numbers.

And then you see one more dimension -- humour. One also can't forget songs like Ai mere pyare watan. One man has actually done so much in his lifetime that the coming generation should feel inspired by him.

He would have been a great exponent of classical music, but he chose to sing for the people and reside in their hearts.

As Told to Ravi Teja Sharma