Manna Dey’s approach to music was not like any Ustad or Pandit but he was more creative said the eminent music director Abhijit Bandyopadhyay.
When asked to share his views on Manna Dey’s music, Bandyopadhyay said, “Manna Dey’s contribution to music is like an ocean and cannot be explained in a few words. However, I can say that his approach to music was not like that of Ustad or Pandit. He was more adept in using his creative faculty in music and that is what made his music so beautiful.”
According to Aarti Mukhopadhyay, another singer with whom Manna Dey had sung several hit duets, he was "an institution".
Born in a musical family, Manna Dey was certainly a “gifted artist” and got the right ambience to hone his creative skills, Mukhopadhyay said.
“Having born with the gift of music he constantly worked on it to polish it and that is the main reason why he could bring the classical texture into light music and make it palpable for common man,” she said.
He could sing classical, filmy, modern and western music with similar ease, she added.
“I was spell bound when I heard the RD Burman song – Aao twist Karen – sung by Manna Dey. It is one of the most difficult songs wherein western music was introduced in Bollywood. But the way he handled the song was commendable,” she said.
Well versed in composing music and rendition, Manna Dey was also a fine human being. Sharing her personal experiences with Dey, she said, “Though he is highly knowledgeable and talented he is a very humble human being. I have sung many a songs with him where he has guided me and helped me improve my musical skills.”
For Dwijen Mukhopadhyay his "Manna da" has been the most "lively" person in his six-decade-long singing career. Mukhopadhyay's association with Manna Dey had been since the late 60s.
While the two have had the opportunity for playback for one song- "Naam mera Nimmo"; they have sung together, as Mukhopadhyay said, at various functions in Kolkata and elsewhere.
"It was my bad luck that I had just one playback experience with Manna da. But it was a lifetime experience," he told Business Line .
According to Mukhopadhyay, Manna Dey had set a standard in playback singing in Bollywood.
"It was the golden era and I don't think they will have such songs anymore," he said adding that "whenever, Manna Da was in Kolkata, we would meet and have long sessions on music and so on."
Over the last few years, discussions centred more on Rabindra Sangeet; a predominant area of interest for Manna Dey.