Ae mere pyare watan(Kabuliwala, 1961): Name one Indian who has not cried on hearing Manna Dey's plaintive passionate but muted mellow and bridled rendition of this timeless Prem Dhawan lyric. This paean to patriotism finely tuned by Salil Chowdhary brought out the best in Manna Dey. No matter how many times we hear it,it rips our heart open.

Ae meri zohra jabeen(Waqt, 1965):No two compositions can be more dissimilar than Ae mere pyare watan and Ae meri zohra jabeen both filmed on the great Balraj Sahni. If one was pensive and pained the other is playful and festive. A song celebrating the uninterrupted romance of a long-lasting marriage this one ranks among Mannada's most popular numbers. Ravi composed. Mannada took care of the rest.

Yaari hai imaan mera(Zanjeer, 1973): The film's leading man Amitabh Bachchan had no songs. Pran zeroed in on a zing thing through Mannada's vivacious vocals about friendship out-lasting life. Fantastic fervour and vigour in the vocals of this Kalyanji-Anandji chartbuster.



Yeh dosti hum nahin todenge(Sholay,1975): Yaari for the Big B turned into dosti in this R D Burman track where Mannda matched Kishore Kumar's joie de vivre note for note.

Pucho na kaise main rayan bitayee(Meri Surat Teri Aankhen, 1963):If you ask me to single out one signature-tune by the great Manna Dey it would have to be this exquisitely pain-layered classical number composed with rare care by S D Burman.And Manna Da's vocals? My God! They are the stuff goosegumps were made for.Vintage Manna from heaven.

Kasme wade pyar wafaa(Upkar, 1965): Sorrily, Mannada's astoundingly well-trained vocals were seen to be too 'classical' for the leading men. Hence all-time Mannada classics were filmed on character actors Balraj Sahni, Mehmood and Pran. This one changed Pran's image. The philosophical thrust of the lyrics, the cynical skeptical approach to life in the lyrics(written by Indeevar) couldn't have been better put forward by any singer.



Laga chunri mein daag chupaaon kaise(Dil Hi Toh Hai,1963): This being a Raj Kapoor film the male vocals were naturally dominated by Mukesh. But hear this. For this classical dance number Raj Kapoor and music composer Roshan insisted on Mannada's vocals. In a film saturated with hit songs Laga chunri mein daag became the stand-out number, hummed and echoed to this 'Dey'.



Ae bhai zara dekh ke chalo(Mera Naam Joker, 1969): Again Raj Kapoor, and hence Mukesh. But for this coffee break of a blithe song it was Mannada all the way. He won a popular award for his effervescent singing.Amazing, no, how he could swing from the somber Poocho na kaise to the playful Ae bhai?

Aao twist Karen(Bhoot Bangla,1965): R D Burman's first bonafide ode to Western Rock was given a zippy twist by Manna Dey. Can you believe the same singer who did Ae mere pyare watan actually sang this yipee-doodle-doo-di-dooh gana about ditty dancing?



Salute,Mannadada,

Zindagi kaisi hai paheli (Anand, 1969): There is a small history to this immortal Salim Chowdhary composition.It was meant to be part of the background during the opening credit-titles of Anand. But when the film's leading man Rajesh Khanna heard the song he insisted in lip-syncing it. Such are the back-stories legends are made of.