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Memories Come Alive:
An Autobiography
Mumbai, then called Bombay, has a transformative influence who choose to live and work in that town. In the case of Mana, the first important transformation occurred in his name. The people of Mumbai corrupted his name to Manna. As Mana adapted to this new identity, he began to evolve as an important singer. He recalls how as a youngster he disliked his given name, Probodh Chandra, and preferred to be known through his Bengali nickname Mana. But when the people of Bombay insisted on calling him Manna, he began to like this new name, as it sounded so much the easier on the ear. It was his uncle K. C. Dey, a well-known singer of the 1930s, who had first asked Manna to take more interest in singing. Dey took Manna to Bombay with him as an assistant music director. Manna began to enjoy the hustle and bustle of the Hindi film industry as an assistant to other music directors. However, he continued to pine for Bengal and Kolkata till 1947. It was only on returning to Kolkata after a span of five years did Manna realise how dreary life in Kolkata was and how much he missed being in Bombay. His family though preferred him to work in Kolkata. The first break came when Phani Majumdar sent a message that he wanted to have Manna work as an assistant to the famous music director Hariprasanna Das for his forthcoming film. The next five years were spent in helping various other people to compose music and yet others to sing it. The few films in which Manna did provide music either were never completed or bombed out of the market in the very first week. Manna now became the favourite of the low-budget film producers who could not afford anyone else. This was quite frustrating to someone who had a firm grounding in classical music, had studied various forms of music closely and thought rather highly of his own musical talents. One of his major grouses was that none of the important music directors like Sachin Dev Burman ever thought of mentoring him even while they were busy promoting various other mediocre musicians. It was in 1950, that Sachin Dev Burman called Manna to sing the philosophical Upar gagan vishaal for the film Mashal. Only Manna, according to Burman, could do justice to such a song. As the film became a hit, so did Manna. This time the snag was that he got slotted as a singer who would sing serious and philosophical songs. Getting out of that slot would take some more time. It was Shankar Jaikishen who took him out of that slot when they had him sing for Shri 420 (1955). Dil ka haal sune dilwala, Murr-murr k na dekh and Pyar hua ikrar hua set him up as a singer who could do fun songs as well as anyone else. Soon music directors began to have songs specifically for Manna Dey. Roshan, the grandfather of Hrithik Roshan, composed the somewhat complex Laga chunari me daag (Dil hi to hai) specifically keeping in mind the musical abilities of Manna Dey. For someone who became known for his Hindi film songs, Manna Dey’s first love seems to be the wide variety of Bengali songs that he continued to sing, both for the film industry and otherwise. His constant presence on the stage amidst Bengali-loving audiences in India and abroad finds detailed mention in this autobiography. The one thing missing is cattiness that is often associated with the film industry. Other singers like Rafi and Kishore Kumar remained life-long friends. Lata is remembered for having been gracious enough to sing for Manna Dey, the music director, in films that sunk without a trace. All his life he remained in love with his wife and his songs. So, those desiring some juicy stories about the film industry would be disappointed. A detailed list of songs by Manna Dey at the end of the book makes this an important reference work as well.
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