Unsung Genius

He was in the last leg of his journey and had been in and out of hospitals; some even announced his 'demise' last month on Twitter. Though the end seemed inevitable, but when it happened it still brought a lump in the throat.

Quite typical of Manna Dey it happened without much ado. He died in the wee hours and funeral got over by noon - no Bollywood bigwigs, no politicians attended it.

My knowledge of Manna Dey was rather sketchy as it got overshadowed by the compelling influence of the other big two - Kishore Kumar and Mohammed Rafi. Hence when the news of his death and his memorable songs started coming on TV, it was for me an embarrassing course correction regarding my knowledge (or lack of it) of Manna Dey's songs - as some of his lilting numbers I had mistakenly thought were sung by others. His extremely hummable Zindagi kaisi hai paheli I thought was sung by Kishore Kumar and his Pyar Hua Ikraar Hua by Mukesh!! Felt like kicking myself.

But then we always associated Mukesh with Raj Kapoor and Kishore Kumar with Rajesh Khanna. In an era when singers used to position themselves as the 'voice' of just one star, Manna Dey was an exception and probably this cost him dear. The actors he sang for span different eras and stature - from Raj Kapoor, Dev Anand to Rajesh Khanna and Mehmood. His works range from classical numbers such as Laga chunari mein daag to racy Aao twist karein. His range was enormous but somehow the music directors of that era failed to tap it to its full potential.

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