Singer Manna Dey awarded DLit by Bengal varsity

Kolkata, Dec 24 (IANS) Singing legend Manna Dey, known as much in Bollywood as in the Bengali film industry for his versatile voice, was Wednesday awarded an honorary doctorate of literature (DLit) by Jadavpur University.

West Bengal Governor Gopal Krishna Gandhi presented the DLit degree to Dey, 88, for his contribution to the Indian music industry at the 53rd annual convocation of the varsity here.

'All I do is a little bit of singing and don't think I deserve such an honour. It feels great and I am elated,' Dey told reporters after receiving the award in the afternoon.

Dey is regarded as one of the veteran playback singers of Hindi and vernacular films. Some of the noted films he sang for are 'Padosan', 'Waqt', 'Shree 420', 'Teesri Kasam', 'Upkaar', 'Mere Huzoor' and 'Zanjeer'.