Padma Bhushan
Award Information
Type	civilian
Category	national
Instituted	1954
First Awarded	1954
Last Awarded	2011
Total Awarded	1111
Awarded by	Government of India
Award Rank
Padma Vibhushan ← Padma Bhushan → Padma Shri

The Padma Bhushan is the third highest civilian award in the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan, but comes before the Padma Shri. It is awarded by the Government of India.

History[link]

The award was established on 2 January 1954 by the President of India. It is awarded to recognize distinguished service of a high order to the nation, in any field. As of January 2010, 1111 people have thus far received the award.^[1][2]

List of Awardees[link]

• Padma Bhushan Awards (1954–1959)
• Padma Bhushan Awards (1960–1969)
• Padma Bhushan Awards (1970–1979)
• Padma Bhushan Awards (1980–1989)
• Padma Bhushan Awards (1990–1999)
• Padma Bhushan Awards (2000–2009)
• Padma Bhushan Awards (2010–2019)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Padma Bhushan

• "Padma Awards". Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. http://india.gov.in/myindia/padma_awards.php. 
• "Padma Awards Directory (1954-2009)". Ministry of Home Affairs. http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/LST-PDAWD.pdf. 
• "Padma Awards Directory (2010)". Ministry of Home Affairs. http://www.mha.nic.in/pdfs/PadmaAwd2010.pdf. 

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Akshay Kumar
Akshay Kumar in 2009
Born	Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia (1967-09-09) 9 September 1967 (age 44) Amritsar, Punjab, India
Occupation	actor, producer, presenter
Years active	1991–present
Spouse	Twinkle Khanna (2001–present)

Akshay Kumar (born Rajiv Hari Om Bhatia^[1] on 9 September 1967^[1]) is an Indian film actor, producer, comedian and martial artist who has appeared in over a hundred Hindi films. He has nominated for Filmfare Award several times and won two times. When he began his acting career in the 1990s, he primarily starred in action films and was particularly known for his appearances in feature films commonly called the "Khiladi series", which included Khiladi (1992), Main Khiladi Tu Anari (1994), Sabse Bada Khiladi (1995), Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi (1996), Mr. and Mrs. Khiladi (1997), International Khiladi (1999), and Khiladi 420 (2000), as well as other action films such as Waqt Hamara Hai (1993), Mohra (1994), Elaan (1994) and Suhaag (1994).^[2]

Later he also gained fame for his drama, romance and comic roles.^[3] He started becoming known for his performances in romance films like Yeh Dillagi (1994) and Dhadkan (2000) as well as drama films such as Ek Rishtaa (2001). His comic performances in comedy films such as Hera Pheri (2000), Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), and Garam Masala (2005) met with acclaim. His success further rose in 2007, when he starred in four consecutive commercial hits. He has thus established himself as one of the leading actors in Hindi cinema.

Apart from acting, Kumar worked as a stunt actor; he often performed many dangerous stunts in his films,^[4] which earned him a reputation as the "Indian Jackie Chan".^[2] 2008 marked his television debut as the host of the show Fear Factor – Khatron Ke Khiladi. In 2009, Kumar founded the Hari Om Entertainment production company.^[5] In 2008, the University of Windsor conferred an Honorary Doctorate of Law on Kumar in recognition of his contribution to Indian cinema. The following year he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India. In 2011 Asian Film Awards honored Kumar for his outstanding achievement in Cinema.^[3]

Early life[link]

Akshay Kumar was born in Amritsar, Punjab.^[1] His father was an army officer. His mother's name is Aruna Bhatia. From a very young age, he was recognised as a performer, particularly as a dancer. Kumar was raised in Delhi's Chandni Chowk neighbourhood before moving to Mumbai.^[6] In Mumbai, he lived in Koliwada, which was another Punjabi dominated area.^[6] He studied at Don Bosco School and then Guru Nanak Khalsa College (King's Circle), where he participated in sports with Janpal Singh.^[6]

After having obtained a black belt in Taekwondo while in India,^[7] he studied martial arts in Bangkok, Thailand,^[6] where he learned Muay Thai^[7] and worked as a chef^[6] and waiter.^[7] He then came back to Mumbai, where he started teaching martial arts. One of his students happened to be a photographer and recommended him to do modelling. The student gave him a modelling assignment for a small company. For his two hours posing in front of the camera, Kumar got Rs. 5,000, compared to his previous monthly salary of Rs. 4,000. That was one of the main reasons why he chose to be a model. After a couple of months of modelling, Kumar was offered a lead role by producer Pramod Chakravarthy for the movie Deedar.^[6]

Career[link]

1990s[link]

Kumar made his Bollywood acting debut with the 1991 film Saugandh, which was followed by the 1992 thriller film Khiladi. In 1994, his action films Main Khiladi Tu Anari and Mohra were among the highest grossing films of the year.^[8] Later that year, Yash Chopra signed him for the romantic film Yeh Dillagi which was also a success.^[8] He received appreciation for his performance in this film, where he played a romantic role which was different compared to his action roles. He would consequently receive his first nominations for Best Actor award at the Filmfare and Star Screen ceremonies. During the same year, Kumar also had success with films like Suhaag and the low budget action film Elaan. All these achievements, promoted Kumar as one of the most successful actors of the year.^[9]

In 1995, along with his share of unsuccessful movies, he starred in the third film in his Khiladi series Sabse Bada Khiladi, which was a hit.^[10] He proved to have success with the Khiladi series, as in the next year he starred in the fourth successful film with Khiladi in the title, Khiladiyon Ka Khiladi opposite Rekha and Raveena Tandon. The film became one of the highest grossing films of the year.^[11]

In 1997, Kumar was seen in a supporting role in Yash Chopra's hit film Dil To Pagal Hai, co-starring Shahrukh Khan, Madhuri Dixit and Karisma Kapoor, for which he received a Filmfare Best Supporting Actor Award nomination. In the same year, he attempted a comedy role with the fifth film in the Khiladi series, Mr and Mrs Khiladi. Unlike his previous films with Khiladi in the title, the film failed commercially.^[12] In the same way as this film, his next Khiladi releases in the following years went on to fail at the box office. In 1999, Kumar received critical acclaim for his roles in the films Sangharsh and Jaanwar. Whilst the former did not make a profit at the box office, the latter turned out to be a success.^[13]

2000s[link]

Kumar on the sets of Heyy Babyy

In 2000, he starred in the comedy Hera Pheri (2000) which was a commercial success.^[14] He also starred in the romantic film Dhadkan later that same year which performed moderately at the box office.^[14] That same year, he performed some of his most dangerous stunts in Khiladi 420, where he climbed a running plane, stood on top of the plane flying a thousand feet in the air, and jumped from the plane onto a hot air balloon.^[4] In a later scene, he is also seen being chased by a car, dodging bullets, jumping off buildings, and climbing walls.^[15] In 2001, Kumar played a negative role in the film Ajnabee. The film won him much acclaim as well as his first Filmfare Award for Best Villain.^[1] Kumar played a role as role as a blind man in Aankhen.

Following Hera Pheri, Kumar starred in a number of comedy films, including Awara Paagal Deewana (2002) and Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004).^[16] and Garam Masala (2005). The films succeeded at the box office^[17][18] and his performance in the latter earned him his second Filmfare Award, for Best Comedian.^[1] Apart from his action, comedy and romantic roles, Kumar displayed a flair for dramatic roles in films such as Ek Rishtaa (2001), Aankhen (2002), Bewafaa (2005) and Waqt: The Race Against Time (2005).^[1] n

In 2004 he starred in Rajkumar Santoshi's Khakee alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn and Aishwarya Rai. In 2006 he starred in a sequel to Hera Pheri titled Phir Hera Pheri. As was the former, the sequel became a huge success at the box office.^[19] Later that year he starred alongside Salman Khan in the romantic musical Jaan-E-Mann. The film was a well anticipated release, and despite receiving positive reviews from critics, did not do as well as expected at the box office.^[19] Though the film under-performed, his role as a shy, lovable nerd was praised.^[20] He ended the year with the comedy Bhagam Bhag, which was a success.^[19] In that same year, he led the Heat 2006 world tour along with fellow stars Saif Ali Khan, Preity Zinta, Sushmita Sen and Celina Jaitley.^[21]

2007 proved to be Kumar's most successful year during his career in the industry, and as described by box office analysts, "probably the best ever recorded by an actor, with four outright hits and no flops."^[22] His first release, Namastey London, was critically and commercially successful, and his performance earned him a Best Actor nomination at the Filmfare. Critic Taran Adarsh wrote of his performance in the film, "he's sure to win the hearts of millions of moviegoers with a terrific portrayal in this film."^[23] His next two releases, Heyy Babyy and Bhool Bhulaiyaa, were box office successes as well.^[24][25] Kumar's last release of the year, Welcome, did extremely well at the box office, receiving a blockbuster status and simultaneously becoming his fifth successive hit.^[26] All of Kumar's films which released that year did well in the overseas market as well.^[27]

Kumar's first film of 2008, Tashan, marked his comeback to the Yash Raj Films banner after 11 years. Although much anticipated by the public,^[28] the film was a critical and commercial failure. His second film, Singh Is Kinng was a huge success at the box office and broke the first-week worldwide record of Om Shanti Om, the previous highest figure.^[29] His next film was the animated film Jumbo. The year also saw Kumar making his small screen debut as the host of the successful show Fear Factor – Khatron Ke Khiladi. He later returned to host the show's second season in 2009.

In 2009, Kumar featured opposite Deepika Padukone in the Warner Bros.-Rohan Sippy production Chandni Chowk to China. Directed by Nikhil Advani, the film was a critical and commercial failure at the box office.^[30] Kumar's next release was 8 x 10 Tasveer. Directed by Nagesh Kukunoor, the film was a critical and commercial failure. His next release was Kambakkht Ishq. Kumar's film Blue was released on 16 October 2009. Blue collected about Rs. 42 crores at the box-office.^[31] His last release in 2009 was Priyadarshan's De Dana Dan.

2010s[link]

Akshay Kumar, Sonakshi Sinha and Prabhudeva at the first look launch of the movie 'Rowdy Rathore'.

He then appeared in the 2010 comedy, Housefull, directed by Sajid Khan which garnered the second-highest opening weekend collection of all time.^[32] Kumar's next release was Khatta Meetha, directed by Priyadarshan which was an average grosser. He also appeared in Vipul Shah's Action Replayy, which was a box office failure.^[33] His last film of 2010 was Tees Maar Khan. In 2011 he starred in Patiala House and Thank You.

He also co-produced a film with Russell Peters titled Breakaway (dubbed into Hindi as Speedy Singhs) which is reminiscent of his own Patiala House.^[34] Breakaway has become the highest-grossing English movie in Canadian history.^[35] Akshay Kumar, recently dubbed for the Hindi version of Hollywood, action blockbuster, Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Akshay dubbed for the role of 'Optimus Prime', which is one of the key characters in the film. He took the dubbing role for his son, Aarav, and did so for free.^[36]

His latest film is Rohit Dhawan's Desi Boyz (2011), which co-starred John Abraham, Chitrangada Singh and Deepika Padukone. His first release of 2012 was Housefull 2 which is a sequel to his 2010 successful film Housefull. The film received mixed reviews from critics and was declared Super Hit collecting 181.25 crore (US$36.16 million) at Box Office in 5 weeks. It was also a huge hit in overseas and the biggest Bollywood grosser in New Zealand. Akshay's Rowdy Rathore released on Ist June 2012.^[37] It marks the returns of him in action genre after 7 years.

Personal life[link]

Kumar earlier dated several of his colleagues, such as Shilpa Shetty and Raveena Tandon. After being engaged twice to actress Twinkle Khanna, the daughter of actors Rajesh Khanna and Dimple Kapadia, he married her on 17 January 2001. Their son named Aarav was born in September 2002.^[1] He stays in shape with a combination of kickboxing, basketball, swimming and other sports, as well as working out at the gym. In the year 2004, he was honoured with the Rajiv Gandhi Award for his outstanding achievements in Bollywood. In 2008 the University of Windsor in Ontario, Canada awarded him with Honorary Doctrate of Law for his outstanding work in the film industry and contribution to social work. The same year he was named the "Sexiest Man Alive" by People (India) magazine. The following year he was awarded the highest Japanese honour of "Katana" and a sixth degree Black Belt in Kuyukai Gojuryu Karate. He was one of the 15 international celebrities invited for the Olympics torch-bearer rally to Canada.^[38]

Awards and honors[link]

Filmography[link]

Actor[link]

Television appearances[link]

See also[link]

• List of Indian Actors

References[link]

External links[link]

• Akshay Kumar at the Internet Movie Database

This article uses bare URLs for citations. Please consider adding full citations so that the article remains verifiable. Several templates and the Reflinks tool are available to assist in formatting. (Reflinks documentation) (August 2011)

S. Janaki
Janaki in 2007
Background information
Born	(1938-04-23) April 23, 1938 (age 74) Guntur, Madras Presidency, British India
Genres	Playback singing, Indian classical
Occupations	Singer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1957–present

Sishta Sreeramamurthy Janaki, popularly known as S. Janaki (Telugu: స. జానకి , born April 23, 1938) is an Indian playback singer. She is a recipient of Honorary doctorate^[1] and Kalaimamani from Tamil Nadu State Government. Renowned for her voice modulation abilities, she has sung in many Indian languages, most frequently in Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil, and Hindi.^[2]

Throughout a career spanning more than five decades, she has recorded over 20,000 songs, won four National Film Awards and 31 different State Film Awards.^[3] Her association with singer S. P. Balasubramanyam and composer Ilaiyaraaja is among the most popular musical combinations in South India.^[4] She is fondly better known as, "The Nightingale of the South".^[5][6]

Early life[link]

S. Janaki was born into a Telugu Brahmin family in Pallapatla, Repalle village, in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh.^[7] Her father Sishta Sreeramamurthy was an Ayurveda doctor. She was interested in music from early age and started performing at the age of three. She learned music from Sree Paidiswamy, a Nadaswaram Vidwan for only one year.She was inspired from film music and used to render songs of Lata Mangeshkar ,P Leela,Jikki and P Susheela on stage before entering film world .

Singing career[link]

S Janaki^[8] started singing in movies at the age of 19.^[9] She later moved to Chennai on the advice of her uncle Chandrashekar and joined AVM Studios as a singer. She started her career in movies by singing songs composed by T. Chalapati Rao in the Tamil movie Vidhiyin Vilayattu in 1957. Subsequently, she performed in the Telugu movie MLA. "Singara velane deva" made her singing star over night. She sang several memorable duets with P B Srinivas and rarely with T M Soundarrajan, A M Rajah & Ghantasala during 60's. Janaki became one of the most preferred female singers of south India from 1970s. Janaki went on to become one of the most favorite singers of Ilayaraja, and a phase ensued when she sang at least 2 to 3 songs per movie in all the four South Indian languages.

She sang in almost every major South Indian movie in the 1980s and 1990s. From late 1970s, for more than two decades, she was the top female singer in south Indian films. She won several awards from government and private institutions during this period. She has a record of maximum singing compared to any other female singer in the Malayalam and Kannada film industry and she also holds the record of singing the most difficult song in South Films i.e. Shiva Shiva Ennada from the Kannada movie Hemavathi.^[10]

S Janaki started being noticed by all in Malayalam industry from early 60's. M S Baburaj reserved his best compositions to her and made her a house hold name in Kerala. Their combination brought great melodies which stood test of time. She went on to record hits for M B Srinivasan, M S Viswanathan, Ilayaraja, Johnson, Ravindran, Dakshinamurthy, M K Arjunan, A T Ummer, Shyam and many others. Her duets with K J Yesudas, P Jayachandran topped the charts and remained as all time hits. She won awards almost every year for a decade in Malayalam. She remained as undisputed melody queen of Malayalam film industry from late 60's to late 80's.

Her career in Kannada industry was equally, if not more successful. She reigned the Kannada music till late eighties. She continued to give some hits in 90's as well. She was present in almost every album of G K Venkatesh and Rajan nagendran. M Rangarao, Upendrakumar, Vijayabhaskar also gave her excellent melodies. Hamslekha used her singing talent in several albums, which were huge hits. Her duets with S P Balasubramanium, PBS and Rajkumar are immensely popular till date. Rajan Nagendra-SPB-Janaki is considered to be most successful team to produce several unforgettable duets.

While speaking about her career, her contribution to Telugu and Tamil cinema cannot be ignored. Though she was singing from late 50's and delivering rare hits in these languages, popular songs in combination of Ilayaraja brought her lot of fame in these two languages in mid 70's. Her vocal skills were tested to core and she won every time in songs of Ilayaraja. Her smile/laugh, sensuous notes, alaaps/humming were used to a major extent. Other music directors like Chakravarthy, Sathyam, Ramesh Naidu, M S Viswanathan, K V Mahadevan, Shankar Ganesh joined Ilayajaja in 80's to give some of their career best melodies to Janaki. She rendered several semi-classical numbers also with lot of ease during this period. She delivered several hits with SP Balasubramanyam, Malaysia Vasudevan, K J Yesudas, Jayachandran, Mano, Arunmozhi etc in Tamil. She also sang super hit duets with actors like Kamal hasan, Rajni Kanth etc. Her duets were very popular and some of them were major reasons for success of several movies. She continued to deliver hits with younger generation of music directors like Madhavapeddi Suresh, Vandemataram Srinivas, Raj-Koti, Deva, S A Rajkumar, Yuvan Shankar Raja etc. She also sang few songs in music of A R Rahman and they were very popular.

She was invited to Hindi film industry by Bappi Lahri for Saheb movie, where she delivered super hit "Yaar bina chain kahare". She sang around 100 songs in music of Jaidev, Lakshmikanth pyarelal, R D Burman, Ravindra Jain, O P Nayyar, Bappi Lahri, Anu Malik and others. She recorded duets with Mhd Rafi(in Telugu movies), Kishore Kumar, Mannadey, Bhupinder, Manhar Udas, Amit Kumar, Suresh Wadkar, Mohd Aziz, Udit Narayan, Shankar Mahadevan and others. But she personally preferred singing south Indian songs as she was getting them with better quality at that time .

She also penned many songs for Tamil and Telugu albums as she was extremely good in both the languages.^[11] She has also sung in Sinhalese, Bengali, Oriya, English, Sanskrit, Konkani, Tulu, Saurashtra, Baduga, Japanese and German.^[12]

As a devotee of Lord Krishna and Shirdi Sai Baba, she has also recorded Hindu devotional music of Meera.^[12] She released albums with songs of Meera, Tulsidas, Surdas & Kabir Das. She released 3 classical albums with songs of Thyagaraja Swamy, Muthuswamy Deekshithar and Swathi Thirunal. She has sung Devaranamas of Purandara Dasa and worked for restoring Ramadasa Keertanalu. She worked with Balakrishna Prasad and sang some of the finest anamacharya keerthanas for him. She rendered several devotional albums apart from these classical albums. She has sung for television and radio programs as well and won awards for best play back from Andhra Pradesh state government for TV Serials .

Her contemporaries include Malaysia Vasudevan, S.P.Balasubramanyam, P B Srinivas, Rajkumar, Ghantasala, T. M. Soundararajan, P. Susheela, Vani Jayaram, K J Yesudas, L R Eeswari, P. Jayachandran, P. Leela, K. S. Chithra, Uma Ramanan, Swarnalatha, Sujatha, Hariharan, Unni Krishnan, Srinivas, Unni Menon and Jency

Telugu Partial Discography[link]

She has rendered magical melodies like Nee leela padeda (Muripinche muvvalu), Pagale vennala (Pooja Phalam), Naravara Kuruvara (Narthanasala), Pagalaithe doravera (Bangaru panjaram), Gunaamamidi komma meeda (Bala mithrula katha), Meghama dehama (Manchu pallaki), Kallalo unnadedo (Anthu leni katha), Mansasa thulli padake (Srivariki premalekha), Ee Duryodhana (Prathighatana), Jabilli kosam (Manchi manasulu), Sirmalle poova (Padaharella vayasu), Nemaliki nerpina nadakalivi (Sapthapadi), Sree Sharadhamba (Sruthilayalu), Mavayya Vasathadanta (Ramachilaka), sinni sinni korikaladaga (Swayam Krushi) and many more . Her duet hits include Nadireyi ye jamulo, Okasari kalaloki ravayya, Ee Pagalu reyiga , Nee Aasa Adiyasa , Emo Emo idi (with Ghnatasala); Andala oh chandamama ravoyi, Andamaina bava, Entha madhura seema (with P B Srinivas); Veena venuvaina, Ravi Varmake andani, Rasanu premalekhelanno, Sirimalle poovalle navvu, Mounamelanoyi , Aliveni animuthayama and many more (with SPB) ; Jivvumani konda gali , Mila Mila merisina thara (with Mano); Sari leru neekevaaru , Aaara neekuma ii deepam, Nallavaade amma allari pillavade (with P Susheela); Gudilona naa swamy (with LR Eswari) and many more hits . Some of the movies which has hits that brought her very close to new generation are listed here...

Personal life[link]

S. Janaki was married to V. Ramprasad. She is now settled in Chennai with her son Murali Krishna, who acted in a few films and has an audio business of his own, and his wife Uma Murali Krishna, a classical dancer (Bharatnatyam and Kuchipudi); they have two daughters named Amruthavarshini and Apsara. She is known for her simplicity and down to earth behaviour.

She is also a close relative of Carnatic classical vocalist Garimella Balakrishna Prasad.^[13]

Major awards[link]

State Awards[link]

• Nandi Award for Best Female Playback Singer - 10 times
• Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Female Playback - 7 times
• Oriya State Film Award for Best Female Playback Singer - 1 time
• Kerala State Film Award for Best Singer - 13 times

National Film Awards[link]

• 1977 - Best Female Playback Singer - (Song: "Senthoora Poove") 16 Vayathinile, Tamil Film
• 1981 - Best Female Playback Singer - (Song: "Ettumanoorambalathil") Oppol, Malayalam Film
• 1984 - Best Female Playback Singer - (Song: "Vennello godari andham") Sithara, Telugu Film
• 1992 - Best Female Playback Singer - (Song: "Inji Iduppazhagha") Devar Magan, Tamil Film

Other awards[link]

• 1986 - Kalaimamani from the Government of Tamil Nadu
• 1997 - Filmfare South Life time achievement award
• 2002 - Cinema 'Achiever Award' from the Government of Kerala
• 2005 - Special Jury Swaralaya Yesudas Award for outstanding performance in music
• 2009 - Honorary doctorate from the University of Mysore for contributions to Kannada Cinema
• 2011 - "Basava Bhushan" Award from Karnataka

References[link]

External links[link]

• S. Janaki at the Internet Movie Database

Further reading[link]

• An exclusive website on S. Janaki www.sjanaki.net
• A website on S. Janaki (unofficial)
• An article on S. Janaki
• Listen to Janaki and others Tamil/Hindi/Telugu Songs
• 729 malayalam solos of S Janaki
• All 1256 malayalam songs of S Janaki
• S Janaki at MSI

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2007)

Prabodh Chandra Dey (born 1 May 1919),^[1] better known by his nickname Manna Dey (Bengali: মান্না দে), is a playback singer in Hindi, Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Malayalam, Kanada, Assamese films. Along with Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh he was a part of Indian film playback music industry. He is rated best classical singer among all singers of Hindi film music though he sang all types of songs from Pop to folk. He has recorded more than 3500 songs over the course of his career. The Government of India honoured him with the Padma Shri in 1971, the Padma Bhushan in 2005 and the Dadasaheb Phalke Award in 2007.^[2]

Biography[link]

Dey was born to Purna Chandra (father) and Mahamaya Dey (mother) on 1 May 1919. Besides his parents, his youngest paternal uncle Sangeetacharya (meaning "Venerable Teacher of Music" in Sanskrit), K. C. Dey highly inspired and influenced him. Dey received his early education in a small pre-primary school named Indu Babur Pathshala. Thereafter he attended Scottish Church Collegiate School and Scottish Church College,^[3] followed by Vidyasagar College where he received his graduate education.

During Dey’s years at Scottish Church College, he sang to entertain his classmates. He began taking singing lessons from his uncle, Krishna Chandra Dey and Ustad Dabir Khan. During this period, Manna Dey stood first for three consecutive years in three different categories of inter-collegiate singing competitions.

In 1942, Dey accompanied Krishna Chandra Dey on a visit to Bombay. There he started working as an assistant, first under Krishna Chandra Dey, and then under Sachin Dev Burman. Later he assisted other music composers and then started to work independently. While working independently as a music director for various Hindi movies, Manna Dey continued to take musical lessons in Hindustani classical music from Ustad Aman Ali Khan and Ustad Abdul Rahman Khan.

Dey started his career in playback singing with the movie, Tamanna, in 1943. The musical score was by Krishna Chandra Dey and Manna sang a duet with Suraiya. The song was an instant hit. He sang a solo composed by Sachin Dev Burman, Upar Gagan Vishal, in the 1950 movie, Mashal. Its lyrics were written by Kavi Pradeep. In 1952, Dey sang for a Bengali and a Marathi movie with the same name and storyline, Amar Bhupali. This established him as a leading playback singer.

Dey recorded popular duets With great Mohd. Rafi, Dey sang 58 duets like "Isq Isq" (Barsat ki raat) "Tu hai mera prem Devta (Kalpana), "Mama o mama" (Parvarish). With Lata Mangeshkar, Manna recorded 113 duets including Yeh raat bhigi bhigi,"Pyar hua iqrar hua", "Aja madhur sanam", "Ritu aye". With Asha Bhosle, Manna recorded more than 100 duets including "Re man sur me ga", "Tu chupi hai kahan", "Zindegi hai khel". Dey sang with singer/composer, Hemant Kumar (Hemanta Mukherjee), in Bengali movies, and also for some other Bengali composers like Nachiketa Ghosh and Sudhin Dasgupta. He sang a duet, "Ke Prothom Kachhe Esechi", with Lata Mangeshkar in the movie Sankhyabela. He also performed Rabindra Sangeet and has recorded over 3500 songs. In addition to film songs, Dey has released several albums of devotional songs of Jagadguru Shree Kripaluji Maharaj.^[4]

He was presented the Filmfare Life Time Achievement Award in 2011.

Personal life[link]

On 18 December 1953, Manna Dey married Sulochana Kumaran from Kerala They have two daughters: Shuroma, born on 19 October 1956; and Sumita, born on 20 June 1958. Manna's source of inspiration Sulochana died in Bangalore on 18 January 2012 on her birthday. She was suffering from cancer for long time. Manna Dey currently lives in Bangalore in the township of Kalyannagar after spending more than fifty years in Mumbai. He also maintains a Calcutta address. He still travels widely in the world to present musical programs.

His Bengali-language autobiography, Jiboner Jalsaghorey, has been published by the renowned Ananda Publisher in the year 2005 which has been translated in English as Memories Come Alive, in Hindi as Yaden Jee Uthi and in Marathi as Jiboner Jalsaghorey.

Jibaner Jalsaghore, a documentary on Dey's life, was released in 2008. Manna Dey Sangeet Academy is developing a complete archive on Manna Dey. In association with Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkata, the Manna Dey Music Archive has been developed in the Sangeet Bhawan.

He has also lent his voice for Madhushala, composed by Late Harivansh Rai Bachchan

Accolades and awards[link]

Dey has been honored with the titles Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan.

The following is the list of Manna Dey's other awards:

• 1969 National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer for the Hindi Film Mere Huzur
• 1971 National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer for the Bengali film Nishi Padma and Hindi film Mera Naam Joker
• 1971 Padma Shri Award by Government of India
• 1972 Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback Singer for Mera Naam Joker
• 1985 Lata Mangeshkar Award awarded by Government of Madhya Pradesh
• 1988 Michale Sahittyo Puraskar awarded by Renaissance Sanskritik Parishad, Dhaka
• 1990 Shyamal Mitra Award by Mithun Fans Association
• 1991 Sangeet Swarnachurr Award awarded by Shree Khetra Kala Prakashika, Puri
• 1993 P.C.Chandra Award by P.C.Chandra Group & others
• 1999 Kamala Devi Roy Award by Kamala Devi Group
• 2001 Anandalok Lifetime Award by the Anandabazar Group
• 2002 Special Jury Swaralaya Yesudas Award for outstanding performance in music
• 2003 Alauddin Khan Award by the Government of West Bengal
• 2004 National Award as Playback singer by Government of Kerala
• 2004 Hony D. Lit Award by the Rabindra Bharati University
• 2005 Lifetime Achievement award by the Government of Maharashtra
• 2005 Padma Bhushan Award by the Government of India
• 2007 First AKSHAYA Award by Government of Orissa
• 2007 Awarded the Dada Saheb Phalke Award by the Government of India
• 2008 Hony D. Lit Award by Jadavpur University
• 2011 Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award
• 2011 Banga-Vibhushan by Government of West Bengal

Filmography[link]