Manna Dey's close Kerala connection

Legendary singer Manna Dey, who passed away on Thursday in Bangalore, had a Kerala connection - his wife Sulochana Kumaran hailed from Kannur, Kerala

Sulochana passed away last year.

Dey, who was ailing for over four months, is survived by two daughters - Rama and Sumita.

A versatile singer who sang in 14 Indian languages, Dey went behind the mike to sing Malayalam songs - "Manasa maina varo" for 1965 film "Chemmeen" and "Chemba Chemba" for "Nellu" which came out in 1974.

The lyrics and the music of both the songs were by Vaylar Rama Varma and Salil Chowdhury respectively.

In Hindi movies, Dey proved his versatility by singing a range of songs like "Aaja sanam madhur chandani main hum", "Chunari sambhal gori udi chali jaye re", "Zindagi kaisi hai paheli" and "Chalat musafir moh liyo re".