Manna Dey- Hindi Cinema’s Favourite Classical Voice

Manna De,born on 1st May 1929 was highly inspired and influenced by his Uncle K C Dey the legendary Singer of the late 30s and 40s.He  began taking music lessons from Krishna Chandra Dey and Ustad Dabir Khan. During this period, he stood first for three consecutive years in three different categories of inter-collegiate singing competitions.
At the age of 22 years he started  working as an assistant music director first under Krishna Chandra Dey, and then under Sachin Dev Burman. Later, he assisted other music composers and then started to work independently. Dey started his career in playback singing with the movie Tamanna, in 1942. The musical score was by Krishna Chandra Dey and Manna De sang a duet named "Jago Aayee Usha Ponchi Boley Jago" with Suraiya which was an instant hit.
It was only in 1943 that he got his first solo break with Ram Rajya. Incidentally, the producer of the film Vijay Bhatt and its composer Shankar Rao Vyas had approached K C Dey with an offer for playback in the film. When K C Dey refused the offer on the grounds that he would not lend his voice to other actors, they spotted Manna Dey sitting in the corner of the room and offered him the opportunity.
After that Manna Dey gave many hit songs.His songs like "O Prem Diwani Sambhal Ke Chalna" from 1944 film Kadambari composed by Anil Biswas, "Dil Churaney Ki Liye from Dur Chaley" (1946) composed by Jafar Khurshid, his duets with Amira Bahee like "E Diniya Jara Suney" from Kamala (1946) and duet song "Aaj Bor Aayee" with Meena Kapoor from 1947 film Chaltey Chaltey became chartbusters in respective years. Between 1945-47 many Manna Dey-Rajkumari duets like "Hay Gagan Me Badal Tharey" in 1945 for the film Vikaramaditya, "Aowji Morey" from Insaaf (1946), all 4 duets from the 
film Geet Govind composed by Pandit Indra - "Kit Ho Nando Kumar", "Chorr Sakhi Aaj Laj", "Apney Hi Rang", "Lalit Labang Lata" from Geet Govind became popular.

Manna Dey was a very versatile singer and there was no playback singer who could imitate Manna Dey's versatility. The great Mohammed Rafi once commented that though people listen to his songs, he himself hears only Manna Dey's songs.He established his versatility between 1948 to 1954 by singing not only the classical based film songs but also singing such film songs which were fusion of Indian classical music and pop music and by giving classical music concerts. His experimentation with western music too produced many unforgettable melodies resulting in an increase in singing offers in films from 1955. He began singing ghazalsin Hindi films from 1953. He became a music composer in Hindi films when he composed music along with Khemchand Prakash for both Shri Ganesh Janma (1951) and Vishwamitra (1952).

 He got associated with S D Burman with the  film named "Mashaal" in which he sang a solo track named "Upar Gagan Vishal", which was another hit. S.D. Burman composed the music for this track.Later he gave many immortal songs with him.One of them was Poochho na kaise maine rain bitaayi from Meri Surat Teri Aankhen
It was an irony that he was typed for classical songs,background songs and sons for comedians specially Mehmood. His deep classical training could have been the reason for this anomaly

His first duet with the then upcoming singer Lata Mangeshkar was "Lapat Ke Pot Pahaney Bikral" composed by Vasant Desai for Narsingh Avtar (1949), With Lata Mangeshkar, Manna recorded around 103 Hindi duets of which songs like "Tere Bina Aag Yeh Chandni" from Awara, "Yeh raat bhigi bhigi" and "Aaja Sanam Madhur Chandni Mein" from Chori Chori, "Pyar hua iqrar hua" from Shree 420, "Woh Chand Muskaye" from Akhri Dao (1958), "Ritu aye", "Dil Ki Girah Khol Do" from Raat Aur Din (1966), "Aya Abdulla Aya" from Juaari (1968), "Soch Ke Ye Gagan Jhume" from the flop film Jyoti (1969) and "main buddho lambo lambo" of Buddha Mil Gaya (1971) are still extremely popular. and with Kishore Kumar it was "Subaho Ki Paheli Kiran" from 1951 film Anadolan composed by Pannalal Ghosh. They sang together 6 songs till 1968 but the demand increased after 1972.Their popular songs were "Mere Pyale Mein" from Aamir Garib (1974), "Is Ishq Mein Har" from Mr. Romeo (1974), "Yeh Dosti" from Sholay (1975), "Duniya Me Jeeney" from Naukri, "Kamal Hain" from Karz, "Phool Chaahiye Na" from Pyas (1982) and their last duet was in 1986 film Maqqar - "Tu Hi Mera Sapna". Salil Chowdhry compositions rendered by Dey from films like Ananad and Anadatta became popular as well. Also the trio of Rafi-Kishore-Manna Dey sang together hits like "Tujhme Ishwar, Allah Tujhme" from Nanha Farishta (1969) and "Band Mutthee" from Chalti Ka Naam Zindagi (1981). Kishore-Manna Dey together also sang with Asha in many films and famous among them are "Khan Chacha" from Dil Deewana(1974), "Aa Kitni Sundar Jagah" from Chandi Sona, both composed by R.D. Burman and with Lata in "Goyakechu Nanche" from Manoranjan (1974), "Logo Ke Juban Me Apna" from Nehla Pe Dehla, both composed by Pancham.  His first duet with Geeta Roy (Dutt) was "Dhonyo Dhonyo He Ayodh Puri" from the film Ram Vivah (1949) composed by Shankar Rao Vyas, first duet with Umadevi (Tun Tun) was "Hay Ye Hain" from Jangal Ka Jaanwar (1951) composed by Ghantshala. His first duet with the then struggling singer Asha Bhosle was "O Raat Gayee Fir Din Aya" from 1953 film Bootpolish.

Three Legends Manna Dey,Rafi and Kishore

 His association with Shankar-Jaikishan and producer Raj Kapoor had begun while working for Awara, but their combination became famous while working together for Boot Polish in 1954. The trio worked in many films together from 1954-1971 whose musical scores were appreciated, irrespective of their box-office fate, like Shree 420, Chori Chori, Mera Naam Joker, Parvarish, Dil Hi to hai, Awara, Sriman Satyavadi, Kal Aaj aur Kaal, Abdullah etc.. The Raj Kapoor- Manna Dey combination produced super hits. Manna Dey gave playback for Raj Kapoor in Shree 420 (Mud Mud Ke Na Dekh), Chori Chori (Yeh Raat Bheegi, Jahan Main Jati and Aja Sanam), Parvarish (Masti bhara hai sama), Dil Hi To Hai (Laga chunari mein daag), Mera Naam Joker (Ae bhai zara dekh ke chalo) and "Ek Paon Chal Raha Hai" from Kal Aaj Aur Kal (1971). 
R D Burman also gave many hit songs with Manna Dey specially "chunri sambhal gori udi chali jaye" from Baharon Ke Sapne. Rahul Dev Burman made Manna Dey sing the westernised songs – "Aao Twist Karen" and "Pyar Karta Ja" which became chart busters in 1965.
Manna Dey recorded popular duets with Mohd. Rafi, Dey sang 101 Hindi songs along-with Rafi which include "Ishq Ishq" (Barsaat Ki Raat) "Tu hai mera prem Devta" (Kalpana), "Mama o mama" (Parvarish), Duniyaan ke liye from Maan Gaye Ustaad (1981), "Main Hoon Tera Prem Aur Tu Ho Meri Pran" from Rahu Ketu (1979), the song "Hindustan Ki Kasam" from Hindustan Ki Kasam (1973), "Hum To Tere Hai Deewane" from Johar Mehmood in Hong Kong, "Badey Miya Diwane" from Shagird, "Ye Do Diwane Dil Ke" from Johar Mehmood in Goa, "Agar Dil Dil Se" from Shola Aur Shabnam(1961).
Some of his greatest songs are non-filmi. He recorded selections from Harivanshrai Bachchan’s Madhushala and his songs such as Nathni se toota moti re and Yeh awaara se din has loyal fans.He sang in many languages like in Bhojpuri, Magadhi, Maithili, Punjabi, Assamese, Odia, Konkani, Sindhi, Gujarati, Marathi, Kannada, Malayalam, and Nepali.
Since 1992, Dey withdrew himself from Hindi film music. But he continued to sing in Bengali movies, bhajans and gazals in different languages and appeared in live performances during 1992 to 2012 . His last live performance was in 2012 in Mumbai. His last recorded song in Hindi films was for the film Umar in 2006 composed by Shamir Tandon, Duniyawaalo Kee Nahee Kuchh Bhee Khabar, which he sang along with Kavita Krishnamoorthy and Sonu Nigam. He was presented the Filmfare Life Time Achievement Award in 2011.
 He died of a cardiac arrest at 3:45 pm on 24 October at Narayana Hrudayalaya hospital in Bengaluru, aged 94.
Some of the Most Popular Sons of Manna Dey

Song from Mashaal 1950

Song from Do Bigha Zamin (1953)

Song from Shree 420 (1954)

Song from Chori Chori, (1956)

Song from Basant Bahar (1956),

Song from Parwarish, (1958)

Song from Navrang 1959

Song from Kabuliwala 1961

Song from Baat Ek Raat Ki (1962)

Song from Meri Surat Teri Aankhen 1963

Song from Upkar 1967

Song from Padosan (1968)

Song from Mere Huzoor (1968)

Song from Mera Naam Joker (1970)

Song from Zanjeer (1973)

Song from Awishkar 1973

Song from Sholay 1975

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The Magic of AWARA HOON and Raj Kapoor

There is a saying that Music has no Language and no Boundaries.This classic song from Awara has proven it.This was the song that mesmerized Russian decades ago.Later it went popular in Turkey now in China.This generation of youth may have not heard this song or liking for old songs but `Awaara Hoon` ring tone is very popular among today`s Russian youth.This  Bollywood song is so loved internationally that it has a localised version in Greece, Turkey, Middle East, Russia and China. The song is so popular that people abroad sing the original version as well. Don’t believe me? See for yourself.
One of the reasons for the popularity of the song, and Indian films in general, is the quality of the literature present in them. Take 'Awara hoon' for instance. The song was written by Shailendra(coincidentally called 'Pushkin', after the revolutionary Russian poet, for his socialist leanings) was filled with a melancholy that is simultaneously uplifting. The story goes that on hearing the passionate, and dark, narration of the story by KA Abbas, Shailendra explained his understanding of the story in his simple lines.
Recently Prime Minister visited China,on his arrival the tune of a bollywood song was played.Indian films have become very popular in China.Aamir Khan is now the most popular Indian actor in China.
Here are some versions of Awara Hoon
Watch This Turkish Song from which Awara Hoon was inspired.This film was released in 1946 five years before Awara (1951)

Song from Turkish Film released in 1946

Ujbekistan version

Istanbul Girls singing

President of Uzbekistan singing

Chineese singing

Raj Kapoor singing for his Gran children

Two Raj Kapoor Fans in Canada

Dancing on the song in Los Angelis

                                         Awara Hoon in background - Mere Naam Joker

The Magic Of Hemant Da with Dev Anand

Dev Anand and Hemant Kumar together created some of the most memorable songs of Hindi film music. Prior to Dev’s partnering with Kishore Kumar or Rafi as his playback voices,the super hit combination of Dev with Hemant Kumar gave many Immortal Romantic Songs.
 Hemant Kumar sang only 11 songs as playback for Dada Burman and 10 of those were on Dev Anand and all of them were hits! What a stupendous record!
Who can forget the start the duo had in Sazaa (1951) with Aa Gup chhup gup chhup pyar karen and then the massive hit next year in Jaal, Yeh raat yeh chandani phir kahan, sun jaa dil ki dastan.
Hemant Da in an interview said that it was S D Burman who understood the potential of his voice.romantic pairing of my voice with his (Dev Anand’s) screen image was created by Sachin Babu (SD Burman). People simply loved it. 
S D Burman was Dev Anand's musical soul.He was giving music for most of his films and using the voices of Kishore, Talat, Rafi and Manna Dey why did Hemant Da's voice was used in Sazaa(1951) surprisingly Manna De was assisting S D Burman in this film.He used to coordinate the practice rehearsals for all singers. 
The next song he sang for Dev Anand was  ‘Yeh raat yeh chandini phir kahan’  from 1952 film Jaal. At one time in the history of Hindi films, ‘Yeh raat yeh chandini phir kahan’ was hailed as ’the most romantic song of impulse ever’. Whether you talk of the scene on screen or just the audio – the impact was tremendous, of equal strength.

The next memorable song was  Yaad Kiya Dil Ne Kahaan Ho Tum  from 1953 film Patita but this was not composed by S D Burman but it was by Shankar Jaikishan
The next memorable hit songs came in with House No. 44(1955) – Chup hai dharti chup hain chand sitare and Teri duniya mein jeene se to behtar hai ke mar jayen. Hemant kumar in a interview says
while singing or rehearsing, I would wonder why he (Sachin Dev Burman) chose me to sing this one or that one, in House Number 44, Chup hai dharti chup hain chand sitare, I thought was a Talat song. Similarly, Yaad aa gai wo nashili nigahen in Manzil, could have been a Kishore song. But, only he knew the best.
In Munimji (1955), Shiv ji bihane chale paalki sajaye ke babhuti lagaye ke, naa.Hemant Da was not the first choice of singer he tried other singers but ultimately it he who sang the song.In this film the hit song Jeewan Ke Safar Mein Rahi was to be finalized he also gave a trial but Kishore Kumar version was taken.

The biggest hit song of both was yet to come.It was Hai apna dil to awara  from Solva Saal 1958.It was the Top song of Binaca Geetmala that year.The director Raj Khosla wanted S D Burman to sing it himself, SD Burman got Hemant Kumar to croon for the swashbuckling Dev Anand. What a great song it proved.
In Manzil(1960), SD Burman had three singers (Manna Dey, Hemant Kumar and Mohd Rafi) giving playback for one hero. And the singers were picked on the basis of the mood and situation that would sync perfectly with that particular voice. For Yaad aa gayi woh nasheeli nigaahein, Dada Burman picked only Hemant Kumar and no one else.
In 1962 One of the biggest hits of Dev Anand-Hemant Kumar, the mesmerizing Na tum humein jaano,from Baat Ek Raat Ki 1962 was the last of their songs together. Haunting and romantic, this duet with Suman Kalyanpur had the audiences falling in love with the number over and over again.
The only film that Hemant Kumar as a music director scored that had Dev as a hero was Ferry (1954) with Geeta Bali, and Dev lip-synced Rangeeli rangeeli rani nindiya aa more raja ki ankhiyon mein aa. 

Song from Sazaa (1951)

Song from Jaal(1952)

Song from Patita(1953)

Song from House No 44 (1954)

Song from Ferry (1954)

Song from Munimji (1955)

Song from Solva Saal(1958)

Song from Manzil (1960)

Song from Baat Ek Raat Ki (1962)

50 Years of BRAHMACHARI

Super Hit film Brahmachari completes 50 Years today. It was released on 27th April 1968.The film became a box office hit and won several awards, including Filmfare Best Movie Award.The film stars Shammi Kapoor, Rajshree, Pran, Mumtaz, Jagdeep, Sachin and Asit Sen. The music was by Shankar Jaikishan.They got theFilmfare Award for this film.In fact the best Lyricist gone to Shailendra and Mohammad Rafi got the Best Male Singer for the song."Dil Ke Jharoke Mein"Brahmachari” won six Filmfare awards out of the eight categories it was nominated for. 

Music scholar and film expert Rajesh Subramanian  wrote an interesting incident that the song "Aajkal Tere Mere Pyar Ke Charche" was a rejected tune, which a depressed Jaikishan played to Shammi Kapoor at Hotel Gaylord. Kapoor found the tune very catchy and suggested to director Bhappi Sonie to include the song in Brahmachari. The song became one of the highlights of the film. 
“Brahmachari”  is perhaps one of the few films where Shammi Kapoor gives a restrained and sombre performance, in contrast to his usually exuberant and boisterous “Yahoo” persona that he created for the Bollywood screen.

The film is about an enterprising photographer Brahmachari (Shammi Kapoor) who looks after a dozen orphan children in a rented accommodation as he himself had been abandoned on streets and has no clue about his parentage. One day, looking for an exclusive picture, he saves beautiful Sheetal (Rajshri) from near suicide which she wishes to undertake since she has been spurned by her fiancée Ravi (Pran). He not only saves her but also employs her as a maid for his “foster children” and their kinship soon evolves into deep bonds of affection.
The find of this film was Jr Mehmood.Remember the hilarious dance act on 'Hum kaale hain toh kya hua dilwale hain...' from the movie 'Brahmachari'? The little naughty boy who imitated comic style of the great comedian Mehmood Ali is still fresh in everyone's mind. 

Yet in the ultimate analysis, the film belongs to Shammi's ‘voice', Rafi, who along with S-J's music and Shailendra-Hasrat lyrics, brings forth some unforgettable melodies that helped shape Brahmachari into a cult figure for eternity.

Songs from Brahmachari

Shankar Jaikishan-The Duo who molded the Musical Mood of Bollywood

Shankar Jaikishan the music synonym of Bollywood Music.They were the Super Star Music Director of golden Era of Bollywood.They molded the mood and musical mood of masses since the release of Barsat 1949.
Shankar,the more versatile of the two,was a prolific musician with mastery over many instruments,elder of the two was primarily responsible for making this great Jodi and also to build a  dedicated team of  Lyricist like Shailendra and Hasrat Jaipuri and musicians like Datta Ram and Sebastion.
Shankar was born on 5th Oct 1922.He started his career with a theater group run by Satyanarayan and Hemawati, before shifting to Prithvi Theatre where he played tabla and performed some minor roles in plays. It was at Prithvi theatre that he learnt to play and mastered several other instruments like Sitar, Accordion and Piano etc. Besides his work at Prithvi theatre, he also started working as an assistant to the leading composer duo of Husnlal Bhagatram and nurtured the ambition of becoming an independent music director.
He met Jaikishan at the office of a Gujrati director Chandravadan Bhatt who had promised Shankar a break as a Music Director when he produced a film.Both developed a liking for each other and it was he who then and there assured Jaikishan of the job of a Harmonium player at Prithvi theaters.While working in Prithvi Theaters, Shankar and Jaikishan used to compose tunes and were in touch with Raj Kapoor, who was working as an assistant to the famous director Kidar Sharma and was aspiring to be an actor/director. Thus, the three had met at Prithvi Theater.
Raj Kapoor made his debut as a director with the film Aag in 1948. Its music director Ram Ganguly was assisted by Shankar and Jaikishan. However, during the recording of a song for his new venture Barsaat, Raj Kapoor had some serious differences with Ram Ganguly and decided to assign its music to Shankar who insisted on taking Jaikishan as his partner. Thus came into existence the new pair of music directors named 'Shankar-Jaikishan' who composed the music for the film.
Their early works include Barsaat, Awaara, Badal, Poonam, Nagina, Aurat, Parbat, Kaali Ghataa, Aah, Patita, Shikast, Badshah, Mayur Pankh, Naya Ghar, Seema, Shree 420, Basant Bahar, Halaku, Rajhath, New Delhi, Kathputli, Anari, Chori Chori, Daag, Begunah, Yahudi, Main Nashe main hoon, Kanaiah, Boot Polish, Chhoti Behan, Sharaarat, Love Marriage,Jab Pyaar Kisi se hota hai,Asli Naqli and Ujala.
Shankar-Jaikishan were the pioneers in establishing the role of the orchestra in song compositions as a medium to express and enhance the meanings and feelings of songs rather than using it just as a `filler' as per the prevalent practice before their advent on the scene. They made use of the orchestra and musical instruments (often dozens or hundreds of them) in their songs which consisted of the following format: 
Shankar Jaikishan made a major contribution towards the development of jazz music in India and the new genre Indo jazz. Their 1968 album Raaga-Jazz style is the earliest Indo-jazz recording in India
After Jaikishan's death, Shankar carried on with the banner of Shankar-Jaikishan alone,His most-successful musical hit was Sanyasi in 1975 for which he scored all songs and the entire background score based upon SJ's favorite Raag Bhairavi to prove the point that SJ's Bhairavi was as much Shankar's as that of Jaikishan.
Shankar died on 26th April 1987. His death received nominal media coverage and his funeral was attended only by his family and some friends.
Some of My Favourite Songs of Shankar Jaikishan

Song from Barsat 1949

Song from Awara 1951

Song from Daag 1952

Song from Aah 1953

Song from Patita 1953

Song from Seema 1955

Song from Shree 420  1955

Song from Chori Chori  1956

Song from Anari   1959

Song from Love Marriage 1959

Song from Jab Pyaar Kisi Se Hota Hai 1961

Song from Sasural 1961

Song from Junglee 1962

Song from Professor 1962

Song from Sangam 1964

Song from Aarzoo 1965

Song from Andaz 1971

Mac Mohan-The Sambha of Sholay

We all know him as Sambha of Sholay,We forget that he did 100 films before that.He came to Mumbai to become a cricketer, but joined theatre and became a Bollywood actor. He learned acting in the Filmalaya School of Acting in Mumbai.He  started his Hindi film career as an assistant with director Chetan Anand, before making his debut as an actor in his film, Haqeeqat in 1964.
Mac Mohan(24 April 1938 – 10 May 2010) acted in 218 films and remained popular as a rather sympathetic villain through the 1970s and 1980s with films such as Don, Karz, Satte Pe Satta, Zanjeer, Rafoo Chakkar, Shaan and Khoon Pasina,
He was Sunil Dutt's classmate in Lucknow, from where he hailed. Mac Mohan's wife Minny is an Ayurvedic Doctor. married  in 1986 and they had two daughters; Manjari Makijany, Vinati Makijany and a son Vikrant Makijany. He was the maternal uncle of actress Raveena Tandon.
He was particular about his clothes before getting into the industry. People would often call him ‘Kadak Ram’ because his clothes were always on point, well ironed and fitting perfectly. His sense of style was reflected on screen and he had a big contribution to his looks in his films.In all the films he appeared with the well trimmed beard 
He was known for his unique style and physique from his college days. It was during his training at the Filmalaya acting school that he got noticed. He was picked to do a cameo in Aao Pyar Karen (1964) and you can see him without his beard, dancing in the song ‘Jhuki Jhuki Nigahen’. It is one of the few films in which you will see him without a beard.

Song from Aao Pyar Karen.1964

It was phenomenal to see the dedication he had for all his films, whether it was Sholay (1975), Don (1978), Kaala Patthar (1979), Shaan (1980) or television, documentaries, shorts, or the international and regional films he worked in. He approached all his work with the same amount of dedication and freshness.

 | Kitney Aadmi They | Blockbuster Sholay Movie | 

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