K C Dey

Krishna Chandra Dey, more famously known as K.C. Dey was born in 1893 in Calcutta (now Kolkata). In 1906. When he was thirteen years old, he lost his eyesight and became visually impaired. He went to become a successful actor, singer, music composer, and teacher. He taught music to S.D. Burman who is regarded as one of the most successful Bollywood film composers, from 1925 to 1930. Interestingly, Dey was Burman’s first music teacher and mentor. In 1932, Dey did his first film named Chandidas. The next year, Puran Bhagat released and it proved to be a box-office hit, the first of K.C. Dey. As the sound recording devices were not available in those times, makers preferred actors who could sing a bit as well. Therefore, he kept getting roles in films. He got mostly the role of supporting actor in the film.

Dey traveled from Calcutta to Bombay (now Mumbai) to work in films. He shifted to Bombay in 1942 and ended his association with New Theatres of Calcutta. Most of his movies from 1932 to 1940 were made by New Theatres. Decades ago, most of the prints of films made by New Theatres were destroyed in a fire that ravaged New Theatres Studios. That is why we don’t have many works of him available. In 1946, Dey felt that quality of his acting and songs was starting to go down and hence, he made the decision to quit films. He still did four or five films after that and ended his career with Bhagaban Shrikrishna Chaitanya (1954). Over the course of his singing career, he recorded around 600 songs in multiple languages like Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, and Gujarati. He is most famous for his Kirtan songs.

He also sang eight Naats (Muslim religious songs). The famous playback singer, Padma Shri and Padma Bhushan Manna Dey is the nephew of K.C. Dey. Interestingly, Manna Dey’s debut was with Tamanna (1942) in which K.C. Dey played a pivotal role. The film also marked the debut of Nargis as a child actor. His other famous films include Dharti Mata (1938) and Desher Mati (1938). A fact about K.C. Dey many don’t know is that he was married to Tarakbala and even had a child with her. In honor of him, there is a road in Siliguri named after him (K.C. Dey Road, Siliguri, West Bengal). The songs recorded by K.C. Dey are still listened to and C.D.s are available as well as online music platforms like Saavn also have his songs available on their website. K.C. Dey passed away on November 28, 1962, and left behind a lot of memories in his melodious voice.