The Manna Dey interview

Hi, RMIMers
It was an exhilarating experience meeting Manna Dey - it always is. I had
done one earlier interview for a local newspaper (here in Dubai), but at least a third
of its actual length never got into print, so outspoken is the man in his off-the-record
comments. This one was no different, but I've tried to cover all the questions RMIMers
sent me. Please note, comments within asterisks are my own, not part of the interview.

*This first lot of questions were posed by Satish Subramaniam*

Q : Your uncle K.C. Dey was undoubtedly a major influence on your singing career. Has
K.C. Dey given music to any Hindi films?
A : Yes, he did. Now let me see. There was "Aandhi", "Tamanna" and "Justice".
(*In an aside I must mention here that "Tamanna" (1942) marked Manna's debut song,
a duet with Suraiya - then Baby Suraiya - called "Jaago aai usha, panchi bole jaago"
I read a post by Ashok quoting Manna as being unable to remember the exact title of
his first song, but this little factoid was told to me by Manna Dey himself on an
earler visit to Dubai*)
Q : Was S.D. Burman working under K.C. Dey or learning from K.C. Dey?
A : Burman and uncle never worked together although Burman was learning music from him.
Q : What about your own association with S.D. Burman? Did you work under him as assis-
tant music director?
A : That I did, in several films. For "Mashaal" the producer asked me (prompted by Bur-
man) to compose some songs, and so I was credited as associate music director.
Q : A reader wonders why the song "saanjh dhali dil ki lagi" from "Kaala Pani" was
assigned to you by S.D. Burman, rather than to Rafi, who sang all the other songs.
Any reason for this?
A : That kind of decision is generally taken by the music director. Although I can't
recall why that happened in "Kaala Pani", Dev Anand certainly objected to my voice
being used for the title 'qawwali' song from "Chhupa Rustom" years later. Burmanda
stood firm, but I still wonder why Dev made a fuss. After all, he was not born a Dev
Anand, just a normal human being. Although (*eyes twinkling*) I'm not so sure now.
Q : You sang many of R.D. Burman's early songs. What was your impression of him? How
long did you know him?
A : I knew him from the day he was born. He was definitely one of the most creative and
innovative of our music directors. My first song for him was "Allah jaane main hoon
kaun, kya hai mera naam" from "Pati Patni". The combination of R.D, Mehmood, and my-
self was particularly good, because we had such fun in the recording room. I did
whatever vocal gags I thought were appropriate, and sometimes the three of us would
just fall down laughing. But underneath all the playfulness Pancham was a serious
and dedicated music director. Did you know he was well trained in classical music?
Q : I've read that he was. Tell me, have you given music for any Bengali films?
A : Oh, many. Offhand I can think of "Ram Dhakka", "Babu Moshai"... there are others.
Q : The reader, Mr. Satish, now wants to know if you can add to this list of films for
which you were music director or assistant: Hum Bhi Insaan Hai (1948, with H.P. Das)
Jaan Pehchan (1950, with Khemchand Prakash), Mashaal (1950, with S.D. Burman), Shree
Ganesh Janma (1951, with Khemchand Prakash), Chamkee, and Tamasha (1952, with Khem-
chand Prakash), Naina and Shuk Rambha (1953, with Khemchand Prakash), Maha Puja
(1954, with Shankar Rao Vyas and Bharat Vyas), Jai Mahadev (1955), Gauri Puja (1956)
Naag Champa (1959) and Sonal (1973). Were there others?
A : Goodness, that seems to be a complete list! Who are the people asking these ques-
tions?
Q : (*At this point I had to break to explain what a newsgroup was, and the die-hard
music buffs that constitute RMIM*)
A : I can think of a film called "Kadambari" and another, "Sati Toral", both in the '40s
with Hari Prasanna Das.
Q : You sang "Maanase maine varoo" in the Malayalam film 'Chemmeen', for Salil Choudhu-
ry. The beginning of the tune appears similar to "Seema"'s "Tu pyar ka saagar hai".
Was there any connection?
A : (*Tilts head back, eyes closed, and hums 'Maanase maine varoo'*) No, I think it was
just a coincidence.

*This next lot of questions came from Prince Kohli*

Q : Who in your opinion was the music director most fun to work with?
A : As I've already said, R.D. Burman.
Q : The most capable?
A : It depends on what you mean by capable.
Q : I suppose it refers to a music director who was thoroughly able to give the film's
director exactly what he wanted, in terms of the song situation in the film.
A : That would be Shankar-Jaikishan. There were absolute masters in delivering the goods
exactly the way the director wanted.
Q : And the strictest?
A : C. Ramachandra. C.Ramachandra and Naushad are both hard taskmasters and knew how to
extract work from a singer, and there was no fooling around with them. (*Another
aside. In a previous meeting I had asked Manna Dey why although both he and Naushad
were inclined towards classical music, there had been hardly any collaboration bet-
ween them - I could only think of "Dukh bhare din" from "Mother India", and a duet
with Rafi in "Palki". He seemed reluctant to discuss it, but told me that even
though sound recordist Minoo Katrak had strongly recommended him to Naushad, the
maestro preferred Rafi over Manna for his compositions, for whatever reason. Still,
Manna holds Naushad in great esteem as one of our supreme music directors*)

*This question from Chetan Vinchhi*
Q: In songs based on classical music which require a singer to perform a few complicated
phrases or taans, typically what fraction of these in pre-composed? How much is the
singer allowed to do impromptu? Is the singer asked to emulate classical artists or
styles? What happens if the artist is not familiar with the raag?
A: There is always scope for improvisation, and a good music director will always be
receptive to suggestions. I can confidently say that in all my songs, my own contri-
bution has been at least 25%. Yes, we were asked occasionally to imitate the styles
of great classical singers, but I've never done it.
Q : Does this mean that the taans at the end of "Laaga chunri mein daag" or "Phulgendwa
na maaro" were yours?
A : That's Roshan! No, never with the likes of Roshan or Naushad. For those two songs
Roshan had the whole thing down pat and I just did what I was told. What a composer!
The question of improvising on such a masterwork never even arose.

*Gautam Choudhury asks this question*
Q : In India famous playback singers continue to sing past their ability to sing proper-
ly or correctly. A good example was Hemant. Towards his last days he could never say
'No' and the results were terrible. And now it's happening with Lata. Would you
stop when you think you're unable to perform the way you did, or continue, saying
'My fans want me to sing'?
A : I have completely stopped singing for Hindi films, but it's not because of any in-
ability. I think I'm in good voice, and my riyaz keeps me in tune for my stage pro-
grammes. I just don't fit in with the present crop of music directors. But if I were
to be approached with a good song, meant for filming on a character-actor, then per-
haps I would still consider it.

*By now Mannada was a little tired, so I decided to slip in just one question of my own*

Q : You sang 'Ketaki gulab juhi champak', with Bimsen Joshi, in 'Basant Bahar'. What was
the experience like?
A : Haven't I told you that story? It's interesting. At first the film's hero Bharat
Bhooshan didn't want my voice. After the success of 'Baiju Bawra' Rafi was under-
standably his first choice. But Shankar, ever my supporter, prevailed upon him, and
some tact was called for since Bhooshan's brother was the film's producer. The first
song recorded was 'Sur na saje', and that won Bharat Bhooshan over completely. Next
came 'Nain mile chain kahan'. Then Shankar called up and said, "I need you for a
duet. The film's situation calls for the hero to sing with a music ustad, and de-
feats the ustad in the process". I said "Sure. When do we do it?", confident that my
co-singer would be Rafi or another playback singer. "Well, we're trying to get
either Pt. Bhimsen Joshi or Ustad Aamir Khan for the ustad's voise", Shankar said.
(*Eyes wide open, thunderstruck*) My heart sank. ME? Sing with Bhimsen Joshi? And
'defeat' him in a duet? I tried at once to get out of it. "Why don't you get two
classical singers for the duet", I asked him. Shankar's firmness could cut both ways
- he lost no time in pointing out that after two songs had already been recorded, I
was now the established voice of the hero, and who was going to explain to Bharat
Bhooshan why another voice was now being used?
I went home depressed, and told my wife, "Pack! We leave Bombay tonight and return
only after six weeks". When I told her why, she chided me and said "Shame on you! It
is after all, a playback song". After much arguing and convincing I finally decided
to take it up as a challenge. I made Shankar give me the song a full four weeks in
advance. We has two rehearsals, and Bhimsen Joshi's voice was incredible. Standing
next to him in the recording booth was an experience. But then I was also
appeciated, especially for my 'entry' in the song, with an alaap in a single long
breath.

That was it. Manna Dey had spoken for almost two hours, and I hope I've covered most of
the ground based on the questions sent to me. Sadly, some more questions arrived too
late, but since Mannada is expected again in Dubai on a private visit next month, I'll
try and get those answered too, and post them later, along with his 'ten best', which he
told me about two years ago. I asked him whether he ever considered writing his auto-
biography, or at least a memoir, but he said that would open up a whole Pandora's box.
Anyway, I tust you all enjoyed the interview.
Regards, Shekhar.

In article <344F75...@emirates.net.ae>, she...@emirates.net.ae says...
>

Shekhar,

Dhanyavaada for the interview and a great write-up, and not the least for spreading
the word about RMIM!

It could be that since the seventies Dev has been sensitive about associating himself
with anything that can be considered non-young.

That is interesting, because, in terms of releases, 'Pati Patni' (1966) is RDB's fourth
film and his second film a year earlier, 'Bhoot Bangla' features Manna Dey. It means
the 'Pati Patni' song was recorded earlier than the Manna Dey songs of 'Bhoot Bangla.'

Great job, satish! But wait!!

Don't tell me you are still at it!

What next, satish? You can start logic-chopping the words: be like a modern-day
Goldfinger: coincidence, happenstance, and enemy action are all the same!

Interesting definition of "capable"! I suppose it would work when the director himself
is "capable", like Raj Kapoor.

CR the strictest? That comes as a surprise. I got the feeling from a Lata interview
that CR--although hard-working in preparation and at the rehersal stage--was easy-going
and tolerant of minor errors in recording, quite the opposite of Naushad who was a
perfectionist.

Ashok