Manna Dey was an institution: Bengali music industry

The Bengali music industry today described legendary singer Manna Dey as an institution who never compromised with music.
"Mannada was an outspoken person and never compromised with music. He will be with us forever," singer Sandhya Mukherjee said recounting her association with Dey.
"We sang together in many films and programmes. He was a great singer. He also made a mark in Hindi cinema playback. He recorded songs till the age of 90," she said.
Arati Mukherjee, another singer with whom Manna Dey had delivered hits, described him as an institution.
"He was born with the gift of music, but he constantly worked on it to polish it. He could bring a classical texture into light music and make it acceptable to the common man and that was one of his biggest achievements," she said.

Vocalist Haimanti Sukla, who was a fan of his since childhood, said Dey wanted Bengali music to achieve global acknowledgment.

"He always remained a Bengali at heart despite shifting to Mumbai and then Bangalore. He was very keen to see Bengali music growing and gaining widespread acceptance," she said.
Singer Dwijen Mukhopadhyay described Dey's career as a golden one.
"It was a golden era and I don't think that there will be such songs any more. With him a whole generation of such music has passed away," he said.
Singer Shreya Ghosal dubbed Dey as a versatile singer and said he lived his entire life as a musician and a singer.

"He inspired many singers and I am also greatly inspired by him," she said.
Paying homage, actor Soumitra Chatterjee said, "It is a very sad day for us. He has done so much good work and his songs will he listened to for generations."
Describing his death as a great loss to music, music director Bappi Lahiri said that the void left behind by him would not be filled.
Dey's grandnephew Sourav said despite shifting away from Kolkata he remained a respected elder.
"He was always there for us in the hour of need. We will miss him," he said.

He said that they would miss on his last rites as it would not be possible for them to go to Bangalore at such a short notice.