Manna Dey’s style of singing was such that his voice could dissolve one to tears; his voice had vigor and emotion; his songs over the years showed his versatility – where he could render numbers that had the fun-feel or pathos.  Manna Dey sang in many languages – Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Assamese, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi – the list is endless and the number of songs that he sang are also countless!  He also lent his voice for Madhushala, composed by Late Harivansh Rai Bachchan. 

 

When Manna Dey passed away in Bangalore (India) on 24th October 2013 – a great era of Indian music passed away.  His death elicited condolences from people of different walks of life – from Lata Mangeshkar to Narendra Modi to Pritish Nandy to Shankar Mahadevan to Bishen Bedi to Amitabh Bachchan to Shabhana Azmi. The list has been continuous.

 

Manna Dey Sangeet Academy is developing a complete archive on Manna Dey.  Dey’s Bengali language autobiography, Jiboner Jalsaghorey was released in 2005, and the book has been translated as Memories Come Alive, in English; in Hindi, it is titled as Yaden Jee Uthi.   Manna Dey’s spirit will live on… with his evergreen songs:  Tu Pyaar Ka Sagar (Film, Seema 1955), Ae Meri Zohra Jabeen (Film, Waqt – 1965), Yaari Hai Imaan Mera (Film, Zanjeer – 1973).

 

Raj Kapoor – the genius director and actor frequently utilized the skill of Manna Dey’s talent – be it for the hero’s playful roles, or roles requiring tragedy to be projected.

 

In association with Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, the Manna Dey Music Archive has been developed in the Sangeet Bhawan.