TV show producer and yesteryear actress Manju Singh has passed away. A veteran Hindi television presenter, Manju is known for her role in the 1979 film Gol Maal. Lyricist Swanand Kirkire took to Twitter and shared the sad news of her demise. He wrote in Hindi, “Manju Singh is no more! Manju ji brought me from Delhi to Mumbai to write her show Swaraj for Doordarshan! He made many wonderful shows Ek Kahani, Show Time etc for DD. Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Golmaal Ki Ratna Hamari Pyaari Manju ji how can you forget your love.. Goodbye!”
मंजू सिंह जी नहीं रही ! मंजू जी मुझे दिल्ली से मुंबई लायी थी दूरदर्शन के लिए उनका शो स्वराज लिखने ! उन्होंने DD के लिए कई नायब शोज़ एक कहानी, शो टाइम आदि बनाए थे . हृषिकेश मुखर्जी की फ़िल्म गोलमाल की रत्ना हमारी प्यारी मंजू जी आपका प्यार कैसे भूल सकता है .. अलविदा ! pic.twitter.com/aKFvMJeFYF— Swanand Kirkire (@swanandkirkire) April 15, 2022
Manju Singh was one of the pioneers in the Indian television industry who produced remarkable shows Swaraj, Ek Kahani, Show Time among others. Fondly called ‘didi’, she was the anchor of the children’s show, Khel Khilone which ran for seven years. Singh had also appeared in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Gol Maal, where she played the role of Ratna.
The demise of the yesteryear actress has left her fans in shock. Several social media users mourned the death of Manju Singh and remembered her memorable performances.
One fan wrote, “Saumya, sundar, susheel.. Uss zamaane ki pyaari beti aur desired bahu ki ek shakal.. Har guruwaar ko sunaati thi.. ‘Ek Kahaani’ Eeshwar unhe apne charno mai jagah de .”
Another tweeted, “My condolences to you and to the family including her fans and well wishers. I remember meeting her in the late 90s when I was a media planner at HTA on Unilever brands. She was looking for advertising support for a show she was producing. That smile!.”
“She was the cute sis in Hrishikesh Mukherjee’s Golmaal! Sad to hear of her demise. It has been a cavalcade of stars/artistes leaving our planet over the last two years ,”added a third social media user
One of the social media users shared her experience of working with Manju Singh as a child artist, writing, “As a child artist,i got a privilege to work with Manju Aunty, I was 11 year old and my father used to produce children stories in audio cassettes in 85..It was my first exposure to the world and manju aunty used be around like a mother to all the kids.A beautiful soul .”
The late actress highlighted national, social and cultural issues on her shows. She started as a television producer in 1983 with Show Time. Her show Ek Kahani was based on literary short stories from several regional languages. Another show which was quite liked by the audiences across the nation was her docu-drama series Adhikar, which was based on women’s legal rights. She also dabbled with a show on spirituality called Samyaktva: True Insight.
Manju Singh was associated with several international film festivals for children and young adults in the recent past. In 2015, she received recognition for her contribution to the creative arts and the education field and was nominated as a member of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE) by the government of India.
