SP Balu’s emotional farewell message to the legendary director K. Balachander

SP Balasubrahmanyam has sent his farewell message in an audio format. And this is the entire text of his audio message… in toto.

Dear all, I am saddened to the hilt. I just heard that K Balachander passed away. I am in a town called Ananthapur doing a reality show to the public called Swarabhishekam. I am the main artiste performing there. Tomorrow I have to perform in a place called Kurnool and day after in a place called Mahaboobnagar. And I took a break from the show now. I have to go and sing again and I don’t know how I am going to do that. That is immaterial. I would like to say something from the bottom of my heart. As far as I am… SP Balahsubrahmanyam is concerned he was more than a fatherly figure. And I don’t know how we have become so close. He used to love me, respect me.

Everybody respects Balachander. That’s not a big deal. The amount of affection he has showered upon me is something very very special in my life. He was… the first person in my life to give me a break as an actor in “Manathil Uruthi Vendum” and the first person to give me a break in in a Hindi film which he directed for the first time called “Ek Duje Ke Liye” and there was lot of opposition for my being the playback singing voice to Kamala Haasan from the music directors, and from the lyricists. But Balachander said, ‘Balu should sing otherwise there’s no question of my doing this film’, to that extent he has gone. And that’s how he gave me the first break for which I got my national award also. And he gave me such a beautiful break as a hero in… in the film he produced Shikharam and gave me a break as a music director to do wonderful songs in Shikharam.

And the entire world knows about Kamala Haasan, Rajinikanth, Prakash Raj so… so on and so forth who are blessed by him and given such beautiful breaks in his films. And let us not forget… my dear all that nobody would have ventured into making films with such, with such daring subjects and nobody could have dreamt to bring them to celluloid. And it was only K Balachander and the way he treated a a a a a lady character in a film in his… so much of respect, so much of love, so much of affection, and is he venturing into making a film with a very different and difficult sort of subject is not a big deal. But making it successfully and is is something extraordinary. He dared to do those sort of things and what a loss!

One of the finest moviemakers of the era is no more with us. Yes, he was quite old in the sense; age-wise he was 84 or 85. Who cares about it. He will be Balu, Balachander always. He was very young in his thoughts. He was very young in his mind. Very romantic in his heart and what sort of gauntlets he used to throw to lyricists and music directors challenging them to come out with extraordinary compositions and how blessed I should be sir. And ladies… to get the majority of such compositions to be sung. I am ever grateful Balachander sir… and I am ever grateful to you. You are another god… in my prayers everyday when I get up in the morning to receive blessings. You will certainly rest in peace sir. There is no doubt about that. But we all miss you Balu sir. We all miss you Balu sir. I don’t know whether I come to see you… to your last rites or not. But my soul… my heart… I am there with you sir.

Take care sir. Take care sir. Bye sir.

Courtesy: iluvcinema.in