Kuldeep Manak (Punjabi: ਕੁਲਦੀਪ ਮਾਣਕ; 15 November 1951 – 30 November 2011) was a noted Punjabi singer[3][4] of Indian Punjab. He was best known for singing a rare genre of Punjabi music, Kali,[5] also known by its plural form kalian or kaliyan.[1][6] In the late 1970s and early 1980s Manak was generally regarded as the best Punjabi singer in the world. His high pitched strong voice was unique, and instantly recognisable.
Early life
Manak was born as Latif Mohammed on 15 November 1951, to Nikka Khan, in the village of Jalal[1] in Bathinda district of Indian Punjab. Sardar Partap Singh Kehron (Punjab Chief Minister) penned the name Kuldip Manak, after being amazed by the quality of his voice at a school prize giving. He completed his education from Jalal Government High School, where he was a keen hockey player. He had an inclination towards singing from an extremely young age and was constantly persuaded by his ustad to graft in his raags and perform on stage. In his early career he became the baadshah of kaliyan. He had lyrics written by famous writers such as Debi Maksoospuri, Dev Threekewala and Jandu Litranwala. His most known tracks were gadeya millade sohne yaar, tere tille ton and dulleya ve tokra. Manak learnt the hazuri raagi methods of gaiki.
Family
Manak's father, Nikka Khan, was a singer himself. Manak had two brothers: Siddqui, a devotional singer, and Rafiq, who was also briefly noted. Kuldeep Manak's ancestors were the Hazoori Raagis (designated cantors) of Kirtan for Maharaja Hira Singh of Nabha.
He was married to Sarabjeet and had two children, a boy named Yudhvir Manak and a girl named Shakti Manak.[3] They both are married. Yudhvir is following in his 's footsteps as a singer.[3][7]
Career
[8] He left Bathinda and went to Ludhiana to pursue his career as a singer and started singing with the duo Harcharan Grewal and Seema.[1] When they came to Delhi, a music company official spotted Manak and asked him to record the song jija akhian na maar ve main kall di kurhi (written by Babu Singh Maan Mararawala) with Seema. In 1968, at the age of 17,[6] he was given the chance to record the song with Seema. His first record features this song along with laung karaa mittra, machhli paunge maape (written by Gurdev Singh Maan).[1] This record was a runaway success. He did sing duets with Satinder Kaur biba younger sister of famous Punjabi lady singer Narinder biba, one of the duets was "Nale baba lasee pee gia nale de gia duanee khotee Later, he started an office at Bathinda along with writer Dilip Singh Sidhu of Kanakwal, but did not stay there for long and returned to Ludhiana. The first folk song sung by Manak was "maa Mirze di boldi", followed by, "ohne maut nu waajan maarian".[citation needed]
The writer and lyricist, Hardev Dilgir (also known as Dev Threekewala) spotted Manak at one of his live performances and penned many Lok Gathavan (English: old folk stories) for him. Dev Threekewala and Manak were very close to each other.
His first EP, Punjab Dian Lok Gathawan,[9] was released by HMV in 1973 which included the 4 songs Jaimal Phatta, Heer Di Kali (Teri Khatar Heere) (Kali), Raja Rasalu and Dulla Bhatti (Dulleya ve tokra chukayeen aanke), all penned by Hardev Dilgir and music composed by Ram Saran Das. This was followed by another Lok Gathawan album in 1974 including Gorakh da Tilla and Allah Bismillah teri Jugni. In 1976 his first LP, Ik Tara, was released including the kali Tere Tille Ton,[2][8] Chheti Kar Sarwan Bachcha and Garh Mughlane Dian Naaran and more. Other albums included: 'Mitran di jacket de' (1973) 'Heer di doli' (1977) 'Sahiban Bani Bharaawan Di' (1978) 'Sahiban Da Tarla' (1979) 'Maa Hundhi Ae Maa' (1980) 'Akhan ch Najaiz Vikdi' (1980) 'Ichhran Dhaahan Maardi' (1981) 'Mehroo Posti' (1982) 'Sarwan Bhagat' (1983) 'Jugni Yaaran Di' (1983) 'Mundri vagah ke maari' (1984) 'Bhul Jaan Waaliye' (1984) 'Nachna pia' (1985) 'Ja ni tera kakh na rahe' 'Ranjha heer di bukal/Heer maardi lehran' 'Dilla De Sodya' 'Baba lassi peegeya' 'Kadna rumaalde geya ve' 'Sanu nachke vikha' 'Singh Soorme' 'Do Gabhru Punjab De'. Manak's voice was versatile as within one album he sang in many different pitches and tones to reflect a song's meaning. For example, in the album 'Sahiban da Tarla' the songs Sahiban da Tarla, Yaari Yaaran di and Teri aan ma Teri Ranjha are all sung with different pitches.[citation needed]
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