Manna’s voice gave strength to character
28 Oct 2013 4:53 AM IST
The obituaries on the death of Manna Dey without exception claimed that he was the part of the quartet, Mukesh, Mohammed Rafi and Kishore Kumar being the other three, which gave the Indian film music its golden era. The foursome indeed gave a new meaning to Indian film music with their very diverse rendition of beautifully penned lyrics put to some excellent musical notes.
Comparisons are not desirable but Dey stood at a disadvantage from the other three. He was never the voice of any of the lead actors of his time as was the case with the others. Mukesh was for Raj Kapoor, Kishore for Dev Anand and Mohammed Rafi for Dilip Kumar. Dey could not be identified with any of them though he sang for stars for several generations.
But there was something in his voice, which gave identity to the characters which were not slotted as protagonists in script. There are several such instances, be it Lala Kedarnath (Balraj Sahni) in Waqt, Malang (Pran) in Upkar, Abdur Rahman Khan (again Balraj Sahni) in Kabuliwala, Badshah Khan (Premnath) in Shor, Abdullah (Raj Kapoor) in Sanjay Khan’s Abdullah among so many others. His renditions of numbers went to give iconic status to these characters.
In Waqt, Balraj Sahni’s wooing of his wife at a marriage anniversary function through singing of Oh Meri Johra Jabi, Tujhe Maloom Nahi… continues to have universal appeal even nearly five decades after the song was first released in 1965. This song is counted as the beginning of the musical odyssey which another Bollywood legend Yashraj Chopra undertook. Waqt was the first film to be directed by Chopra.
Similarly his singing of Ae mere pyare watan, ae mere bichare chaman tujh pe dil qurban … gave a new meaning to rendition of patriotic songs. The yearn to return to motherland of a traveling Afghan, caught in a quagmire of circumstances in far off Kolkata, was excellently enacted by Balraj Sahni with the character strengthened by Manna Day’s soulful singing of the song.
While Manoj Kumar is largely credited for the image makeover of celebrated villain of Hindi screen – Pran, there is no doubt that Manna dey by giving his voice to the character of Malang Baba added the much needed pathos to the character. Kasme vade pyar wafa sab batein hain bato ka kya, koi kisi ka nahi ye jhoothe naate hain naato ka kya , penned by Indivar, remains a very definitive exposition on human relations.
Comparisons are not desirable but Dey stood at a disadvantage from the other three. He was never the voice of any of the lead actors of his time as was the case with the others. Mukesh was for Raj Kapoor, Kishore for Dev Anand and Mohammed Rafi for Dilip Kumar. Dey could not be identified with any of them though he sang for stars for several generations.
But there was something in his voice, which gave identity to the characters which were not slotted as protagonists in script. There are several such instances, be it Lala Kedarnath (Balraj Sahni) in Waqt, Malang (Pran) in Upkar, Abdur Rahman Khan (again Balraj Sahni) in Kabuliwala, Badshah Khan (Premnath) in Shor, Abdullah (Raj Kapoor) in Sanjay Khan’s Abdullah among so many others. His renditions of numbers went to give iconic status to these characters.
In Waqt, Balraj Sahni’s wooing of his wife at a marriage anniversary function through singing of Oh Meri Johra Jabi, Tujhe Maloom Nahi… continues to have universal appeal even nearly five decades after the song was first released in 1965. This song is counted as the beginning of the musical odyssey which another Bollywood legend Yashraj Chopra undertook. Waqt was the first film to be directed by Chopra.
Similarly his singing of Ae mere pyare watan, ae mere bichare chaman tujh pe dil qurban … gave a new meaning to rendition of patriotic songs. The yearn to return to motherland of a traveling Afghan, caught in a quagmire of circumstances in far off Kolkata, was excellently enacted by Balraj Sahni with the character strengthened by Manna Day’s soulful singing of the song.
While Manoj Kumar is largely credited for the image makeover of celebrated villain of Hindi screen – Pran, there is no doubt that Manna dey by giving his voice to the character of Malang Baba added the much needed pathos to the character. Kasme vade pyar wafa sab batein hain bato ka kya, koi kisi ka nahi ye jhoothe naate hain naato ka kya , penned by Indivar, remains a very definitive exposition on human relations.
Next Story
