Manna Dey

Prabodh Chandra Dey (May 1, 1919 − October 24, 2013), known by his stage name Manna Dey (May 1, 1919 − October 24, 2013), was a renowned Indian playback singer, music director, and musician. He had a classical music background, being part of the Bhendibazaar Gharana and receiving training under Ustad Aman Ali Khan. Manna Dey is widely recognized as one of the most versatile and celebrated vocalists in the Hindi film industry, and is often acknowledged for his significant contributions to integrating Indian classical music into Hindi commercial cinema. As a musician, Dey is particularly acclaimed for incorporating Indian classical music elements into a pop musical framework, a contribution that played a pivotal role during the golden era of Hindi cinema. Throughout his career spanning over five decades, Dey recorded a total of 3,047 songs. While the majority of his songs were in Bengali and Hindi, he showcased his singing prowess in 14 other Indian languages, including Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Assamese, Gujarati, Kannada, Malayalam, and Chhattisgarhi. His musical zenith was observed during the mid-1950s to the 1970s. For his outstanding contributions to Indian music, Manna Dey received several prestigious accolades from the Government of India. He was honored with the Padma Shri in 1971, followed by the Padma Bhushan in 2005 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2007.<ref>Manna Dey: Manna Dey archive in a shambles | Kolkata News – The Times of India . The Times of India. (25 October 2016). Retrieved 6 November 2018.'</ref> Early life Dey was born in a Bengali family to Mahamaya and Purna Chandra Dey on 1 May 1919 in Calcutta (Now Kolkata). Besides his parents, his youngest paternal uncle, Sangeetacharya Krishna Chandra Dey highly inspired and influenced him. He received his early education at Indu Babur Pathshala, a small pre-primary school. He started doing stage shows in school from 1929. He attended Scottish Church Collegiate School and Scottish Church College. He participated in sports events like wrestling and boxing in his college days, taking training from Gobar Guha. He graduated from Vidyasagar College.