Shankar Jaikishan and Manna Dey.
Shankar Jaikishan had utilized the talents of all the leading singers of 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s who glorified the world of playback singing in bollywood films. They have used Rafi, Mukesh, Talat Mehmood, Subir Sen, Hemant Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor, Kishore Kumar, on one hand and among female singers they have used Lata, Asha, Suman Kalyanpur, Sharda, and many other singers. If any composer in bollywood films had done justice to the immense talent of the classical singer Manna Dey then it was Shankar Jaikishan.
The versatile capability of Manna Dey in singing every type of songs ranging from qawallies to ghazals, westernized songs to folk songs, romantic songs to pure classical numbers, was used to perfection by SJ. In Raj Kapoor’s Shree 420, SJ used Manna Dey to sing romantic songs like “pyar hua ikraar hua hai” and used him for other types of tunes like “mur murke na dekh mur murk e”, “dil ka haal sune dilwala”, etc.
SJ used Manna Dey for romantic songs in Raj Kapoor’s successful film Chori Chori which was an adaptation of Hollywood film Roman Holiday where Gregory Pegg and Audrey Hepburn provided landmark performances. The hit songs in the film included “aa ja sanam”, “yeh raat bheegi bheegi”, where Lata and Manna Dey sang memorial duets. Raj Kapoor and Nargis gave able lips in the hit songs.
SJ used Manna Dey to sing emotional songs in Balraj Sahani’s film Seema. Manna Dey did extremely well in the song “tu pyar ka sagar hai” alongside Rafi’s successful song “kahan ja rahe ho”. SJ used Manna Dey also for the song “muskura ladle muskura” where Rajender Kumar gave able lips.
Manna Dey got successful songs from SJ also in the film Pagla Kahin Ka where Shammi Kapoor and Asha Parekh played memorable roles. Even the pure classical numbers of SJ for Manna Dey are still remembered like the song “sur na saje kya gayun mai” from the film Basant Bahar, where Bharat Bhushan played a landmark role. Manna Dey even showed his classical control opposite renowned classical singer Bhimsen Joshi in the film Basant Bahar.
Although Roshan, Madanmohan, Salil Choudhury and other composers also used the classical talent of Manna Dey to perfection, Shankar Jaikishan considered him as one of the most versatile singers of all times after Mohammad Rafi. SJ and Manna Dey’s combination should be preserved and restored for future generations.
Shankar Jaikishan had utilized the talents of all the leading singers of 40s, 50s, 60s and 70s who glorified the world of playback singing in bollywood films. They have used Rafi, Mukesh, Talat Mehmood, Subir Sen, Hemant Kumar, Mahendra Kapoor, Kishore Kumar, on one hand and among female singers they have used Lata, Asha, Suman Kalyanpur, Sharda, and many other singers. If any composer in bollywood films had done justice to the immense talent of the classical singer Manna Dey then it was Shankar Jaikishan.
The versatile capability of Manna Dey in singing every type of songs ranging from qawallies to ghazals, westernized songs to folk songs, romantic songs to pure classical numbers, was used to perfection by SJ. In Raj Kapoor’s Shree 420, SJ used Manna Dey to sing romantic songs like “pyar hua ikraar hua hai” and used him for other types of tunes like “mur murke na dekh mur murk e”, “dil ka haal sune dilwala”, etc.
SJ used Manna Dey for romantic songs in Raj Kapoor’s successful film Chori Chori which was an adaptation of Hollywood film Roman Holiday where Gregory Pegg and Audrey Hepburn provided landmark performances. The hit songs in the film included “aa ja sanam”, “yeh raat bheegi bheegi”, where Lata and Manna Dey sang memorial duets. Raj Kapoor and Nargis gave able lips in the hit songs.
SJ used Manna Dey to sing emotional songs in Balraj Sahani’s film Seema. Manna Dey did extremely well in the song “tu pyar ka sagar hai” alongside Rafi’s successful song “kahan ja rahe ho”. SJ used Manna Dey also for the song “muskura ladle muskura” where Rajender Kumar gave able lips.
Manna Dey got successful songs from SJ also in the film Pagla Kahin Ka where Shammi Kapoor and Asha Parekh played memorable roles. Even the pure classical numbers of SJ for Manna Dey are still remembered like the song “sur na saje kya gayun mai” from the film Basant Bahar, where Bharat Bhushan played a landmark role. Manna Dey even showed his classical control opposite renowned classical singer Bhimsen Joshi in the film Basant Bahar.
Although Roshan, Madanmohan, Salil Choudhury and other composers also used the classical talent of Manna Dey to perfection, Shankar Jaikishan considered him as one of the most versatile singers of all times after Mohammad Rafi. SJ and Manna Dey’s combination should be preserved and restored for future generations.
