WHEN A SINGER CONTEMPLATED TAKING OFF ON LEAVE

It was for the film Basant Bahar that Shankar Jaikishan approached Manna Dey for a classical song that would be filmed as a competition between two singers in the royal court. They briefed Manna Dey that his was to be the hero’s voice – the one who would win the singing competition. Mannaji asked the duo the identity of the singer pitted against him and he was shocked to hear the name – Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, the doyen of Indian Classical Music. He flatly refused to sing the song – reiterating repeatedly that he was no match for the maestro. Inspite of their many entreaties, he simply refused to listen, finally leaving the meeting as the composers were adamant that he could do justice to the song.

On the way home, Manna Dey’s mind went into overdrive. He knew that Shankar Jaikishan were very stubborn when they wanted to be and would not give up. They would continue to pester him for days on end, entreating him to sing the song. So when he reached home, he promptly went to his wife Sulochana and asked her how she would like a vacation for a week or so…a vacation somewhere far away where no one would be able to reach them.

His wife, who knew the untiring workaholic he was, realised there was some reason for this sudden desire to go off on a vacation…a reason that he was not telling her. Slowly, she coaxed the entire reason out of Manna Dey and upon hearing it; she gently chided him for being a defeatist. Yes, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi was a legend, but Manna Dey was also a good classical singer, among the few in the film industry. So why couldn’t he take it up as a challenge. If anything, he would emerge richer from the experience, she reasoned.

Though he agreed to sing the song, Manna Day took a months’s time to prepare for it. He approached an Indian classical singer, Ustaad Abdul Rehman and would daily train along with him to familiarize himself with the genre of Indian Classical Music. After all, he would be matching vocal chords with the great Pandit Bhimsen Joshi.  

On the day of the recording, Manna Dey’s nerves were on edge just to be in the same recording room with him. And when Pandit Bhimsen Joshi sensed this, he put the young Manna Dey at ease. He advised him to play with his vocal chords, suggesting that he raise his pitch to a certain octave and then bring it down like the motion of a painter’s brush. 

When the song, “Ketaki Gulab Juhi” was finally recorded under Shankar Jaikishan’s baton, the result was truly electric. Pandit Bhimsen Joshi turned to Manna Dey and told him that he had sung so flawlessly, that he should seriously consider singing classical music too. But Manna Dey, humility personified, replied that he even if he repeatedly sung each alaap for weeks together, he would never be able to match the maestro. He was content singing the lighter genre of film music.

The song itself turned out to be a masterpiece in film classical music, besides its cinematic wizardry as Bharat Bhushan the hero with playback by Manna Dey defeats some unknown character artiste who had the good fortune of Pandit Bhimsen Joshi singing for him. 

You can watch the song by clicking on the link below:

KETAKI GULAAB JUHI