Manna Dey (1 May 1919 – 24 October 2013) was one of the most versatile playback singers of Indian cinema. Born Prabodh Chandra Dey in Kolkata, he recorded thousands of songs across more than five decades, primarily in Hindi and Bengali, but also in Marathi, Gujarati, Malayalam, Kannada, Assamese, Punjabi, Bhojpuri, Odia, Konkani, Sindhi, Nepali and Sanskrit. His discography is notable for its range, spanning classical-based compositions, devotional songs, qawwalis, ghazals, light romantic numbers, comic songs and Rabindra Sangeet-influenced Bengali compositions.
| Singer | Manna Dey (Prabodh Chandra Dey) |
|---|---|
| Born | 1 May 1919, Calcutta (now Kolkata) |
| Died | 24 October 2013, Bengaluru |
| Playback debut (Hindi) | Tamanna (1942), composed by Krishna Chandra Dey |
| Primary languages | Hindi, Bengali |
| Career span | 1942 – 2010s |
| Notable awards | Padma Shri (1971), Padma Bhushan (2005), Dadasaheb Phalke Award (2007), National Film Awards for Best Male Playback (1969, 1971) |
Manna Dey trained under his uncle, the singer-composer Krishna Chandra Dey, and later under Ustad Dabir Khan and Ustad Aman Ali Khan of the Indore gharana. His grounding in Hindustani classical music shaped a discography in which classical-based film songs occupy a central place. He moved to Bombay in 1942 and worked initially as an assistant to his uncle and then to Sachin Dev Burman, before establishing himself as an independent playback singer.
Manna Dey's first recorded song was "Upar Gagan Vishal" for the film Tamanna (1942). During the 1940s, he sang under composers such as K. C. Dey, Anil Biswas, Khemchand Prakash, Husnlal Bhagatram and S. D. Burman. His work in this decade was largely confined to chorus and devotional pieces, with the bhajan "Gayee Tu Gayee Sita Sati" from Ram Rajya (1943) being among his early notable solo efforts.
The 1950s established Manna Dey as a leading classical-based singer. Key recordings include:
The 1960s are widely regarded as the peak of his Hindi film career. Major songs include:
This decade contains some of his most popular songs, often in collaboration with Mehmood and other character actors:
From the late 1970s onwards, his output in Hindi cinema declined as the playback landscape shifted. He continued to record selectively into the 1990s, including songs in Prahaar (1991) and other films, before largely withdrawing from Hindi film recording.
Parallel to his Hindi career, Manna Dey built an extensive Bengali repertoire of modern songs (adhunik), film songs, Puja parbon releases, and Rabindra Sangeet-influenced compositions. Notable Bengali recordings include:
He worked closely with Bengali composers including Salil Chowdhury, Nachiketa Ghosh, Sudhin Dasgupta, Anal Chatterjee and V. Balsara.
Manna Dey recorded in numerous Indian languages, including:
Outside cinema, Manna Dey recorded bhajans, ghazals, classical-based khayal renditions, and Bengali Puja releases that were issued annually by HMV (Saregama). His devotional albums include works on Hanuman, Krishna and Shiva, and he remained a regular concert performer in India and abroad through the 1990s and 2000s.
Manna Dey is considered the singer of choice in Hindi cinema for songs requiring a strong classical base, complex compositions, and certain comic-philosophical situations. Composers Shankar–Jaikishan, Salil Chowdhury, S. D. Burman, R. D. Burman, Roshan and Madan Mohan repeatedly used his voice for technically demanding pieces. His Bengali adhunik catalogue, particularly "Coffee Houser Sei Adda Ta", remains a fixture of Bengali popular memory. With recordings estimated in the thousands across more than a dozen languages, his discography is among the most linguistically diverse in Indian playback singing.