1 Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli — Anand (1971)
Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s take on life and death with Rajesh Khanna as the titular character, Anand, featured memorable songs composed by Salil Chaudhary. While Mukesh sang two songs (one sad, one happy) for Khanna, it’s Dey’s wistful ‘Zindagi Kaisi Hai Paheli’ written by Yogesh which lingers till today. The film was one of the rare instances in which Kishore Kumar’s voice was not used for Khanna.
2 Yeh Dosti — Sholay (1975)
Arguably ‘the’ friendship song of Hindi cinema from its most famous film of all time, Sholay, ‘Yeh Dosti’ is a duet by Kishore Kumar and Manna Dey for the life-long friends Jai and Veeru. Picturised on Dharmendra and Amitabh Bachchan, the song is a paean to amity and loyalty between friends. Manna Dey sung for Bachchan while Kumar sang for Dharmendra on the song composed by RD Burman. It was RD's father who first gave Dey his big break.
3 Ae Bhai Zara Dekh Ke Chalo — Mera Naam Joker (1970)
At its time of release, Mera Naam Joker was a misfire, yet as the years passed the film has turned into a cult classic. Raj Kapoor created one of his most iconic characters and Manna Dey, who often sang for Kapoor, turned Shankar-Jaikishan’s ‘Ae Bhai Zara Dekh Ke Chalo’ into an anthem. Dey won both the Filmfare and the National Awards for his rendition.
4 Ek Chatur Naar — Padosan (1968)
Another fun-filled duet with Kishore Kumar, ‘Ek Chatur Naar’ is a classic example of two singers trying to outdo one another with music composed by RD Burman. Manna Dey was the voice of Mehmood, who played a south Indian music teacher. According to Dey in his biography, the song took 12 hours to record. He wrote, “For the two of us, the session had taken on the magnitude of a duel.”
5 Yaari Hai Imaan — Zanjeer (1973)
Hindi cinema’s legendary villain became forever associated with this song which won lyricist Gulshan Bawra the Filmfare award that year. Pran played the lion-hearted Pathan Sher Khan in the film whose word is final, for friend or foe. Dey himself was nominated for the song but he lost out to singer Narendra Chanchal for the song ‘Beshak Mandir Masjid’ from Bobby (1973).