Manna Dey’s knack for singing classical songs may have been disadvantageous for his career in filmdom, but the singer honoured with the Dadasaheb Phalke Award will be remembered for his versatility and masculine style of rendering love songs.u00a0He proved his flexibility and versatility by going behind the mike for a range of songs like Aaja sanam madhur chandani main hum, Chunari sambhal gori udi chali jaye re, Zindagi kaisi hai paheli and Chalat musafir moh liya re.u00a0All thanks to composer duo Shankar-Jaikishan.

Recognition
Labelled as a classical singer, the music genius did not get due recognition compared to others, but he managed to sing over 3,500 songs in his decades-long career, and won some of the highest honours in the field of art and culture.u00a0In his memoir Jiboner Jolshaghorey (Memories Come Alive), he thanked Shankar-Jaikishan, who closely worked with Raj Kapoor in films like Awara and Shree 420, for sensing “that my masculine style of rendering love songs would appeal to the public”. “I am especially indebted to Shankarji, for had it not been for his patronage, I would certainly not have attained the heights of success I enjoyed in my career. Here was one man who knew how to bring out the best in me,” Manna Dey mentioned in his memoir.