Saturday, December 2, 2017

SPB presented Gurajada Visishta Puraskar


Minister for Mines R.V.S. K. Ranga Rao, former Member of Parliament and litterateur Yarlagadda Lakshmi Prasad, MLA Meesala Geeta, Municipal Chairperson P. Ramakrishna, and actor Gollapudi Maruthi Rao felicitated and presented ‘Gurajada Visista Puraskar’ to cine playback singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam at Ananda Gajapathi Auditorium on Thursday. Mr. Balasubrahmanyam was the 17th eminent personality to receive the award.

Gurajada Samskritika Samakhya has been organising ‘Gurajada Sahiti Chaitanyotsavam’ in commemoration of legendary writer Gurajada Appa Rao’s anniversary every year on September 30.

On the occasion of 102nd anniversary of Mahakavi Gurajada, Dr. Lakshmi Prasad and Mr. Anant Sriram, who along with A. Gopala Rao, P.V. Narasimha Raju, K. Prakash, members of Samskritika Samakhya, elite of the town, and school children took out a rally with the belongings of the legendary writer from Gurajada’s house and paid tributes by garlanding his statue at M.R. College (Autonomous) in the morning.

Talking to media, Dr. Lakshmi Prasad emphasised on the need to preserve works of Gurajada as was done in the case of Rabindra Tagore and Shakespeare by the respective governments. Already, he alleged, many a number of Gurajada’s books were in a state of decay. They needed to be treated with chemicals, digitalised, and preserved for the future generation by the government.

Lyricist Anant Sriram compared the rally of carrying Gurajada’s belongings with that of a procession carrying clothes of Lord Venkateswara Swamy in Tirupati. He felt that Telugu literature would survive for ever if the youth were involved such events.

మహానుభావులకు వర్ధంతులుండవు


Monday, November 20, 2017

‘Gurajada Visista Puraskar’ for SPB

Singer the seventeenth person to be awarded the puraskar

Gurajada Samskritika Samakhya, a literary and cultural organisation, has selected this year, the noted playback singer S.P. Balasubrahmanyam for the “Gurajada Visista Puraskar”, which will be presented to him at “Gurajada Sahiti Chaitanyotsavam” to be held on November 30. This was announced at a press conference by the samakhya general secretary Kapuganti Prakash on Friday.

Mr. Kapuganti Prakash said that, as a tribute to ‘Mahakavi’ Gurajada Appa Rao, on the occasion of his death anniversary on November 30, the samakhya had been presenting the puraskar every year since 2000 to eminent personalities who excelled in literary and cultural fields.

Awardees so far

Those who were presented the ‘Visista Purakar’ so far were: Dr. C. Narayana Reddy, Kasi Viswanath, J.V. Somayajulu, Gollapudi Maruthi Rao, Dr. Garigipati Narasimha Rao, Gummadi, Sowcar Janaki, Raavi Kondala Rao, Yarlagedda Lakshmi Prasad, Modali Nagabushana Sarma, Anjali, Suddhala Ashok, Chatla, Vamsi, Bharani, and Mallemala.

Mr. Prakash said Union Civil Aviation Minister P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju, Minister for Mines R.V.S.K. Ranga Rao, MLC Kolagatla Veerabhadra Swamy, MLA Meesala Geeta, Collector Vivek Yadav, and writer and actor Gollapudi Maruthi Rao have consented to present the puraskar to the noted singer on the day.

The samakhya president P.V. Narasimha Raju, and former member of the Official Language Commission A. Gopala Rao were present.

Courtesy: The Hindu

Wednesday, June 7, 2017

Why Did Dr. Rajkumar Apologise To S. P. Balasubrahmanyam?

Natasarvabhouma Dr Rajkumar was literally the pearl of Kannada film industry. What's more? He is considered to be the God of acting in Sandalwood, being worshipped by many, till today.

This multi-faceted artist one happened to apologise to the singing legend, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam. "I have sung something that I think is good. I have not done well up to your mark. Please forgive me if there are any mistakes" were the words from Dr. Rajkumar as said by S.P.B himself, when he was on Weekend With Ramesh.

Dr. Rajkumar, being was a renowned singer himself, offered his apologies. Want to know why?

Shivarajkumar Speaks About S.P.B

"He is one of the best singers our nation has ever seen till date. I feel very embarassed to talk about such a huge legend! No doubt, he is the most wonderful singer" said Shivarajkumar, actor.

Raghavendra Rajkumar's Views

"His contribution to Indian Cinema is enormous. The number of songs that he has sung, easily exceeds the number of songs that I have listened to, in my entire life" opines RaghavendraRajkumar, actor and producer.

Raghavendra Rajkumar's Flashback

Raghavendra Rajkumar narrates an incident remembering Balasubrahmanyam. He said, "I was in Aakash Studio one day when I saw S.P.B sir leaving his work half way to meet me. I was overwhelmed."

Raghavendra Rajkumar said, "He then came to me and asked for a favour. I was happy to oblige. He asked me to ask my father if he could sing for S.P.B. I told the same to my father."

Dr. Rajkumar's Reaction

"I went back home and told the same to 'appaji'. Father was shocked and remarked by saying, "This is like River Ganga asking me for a cup of water." He agreed reluctantly as he feared if he could do justice to the special request or not" said Raghavendra Rajkumar.

Dr. Rajkumar's Luck

According to Raghavendra Rajkumar, Dr. Rajkumar abided by the request by saying, "Am I to sing for that singing legend? This is my lucky moment. Please accept the offer."

Rarity

Actor Shivarajkumar said, "Conventionally, singers sing for artists. But, on few rare occasions, artistes sing for singers. That was one such occasion where father lent his voice to S.P.B. I am very happy, as was father.

What Was That Special Occasion?

"It was for a movie named Muddina Maava. Shashikumar was the hero while I played a supporting character. I took up the reigns of music direction as well for that movie. It was decided that I sing for my character on-screen, while Rajesh was supposed to sing for Shashikumar" said S.P.B, remembering the good old days.

Shashikumar's Persistence

S.P.B further continued by saying, "But, Shashikumar did not agree to the plan. He wanted me to sing for him. But then, I could not sing for my character. That is when we decided to approach 'Annavru' to give voice to my character."

Dr. Rajkumar's Apologies To S.P.B

"We then sat and discussed with Dr. Rajkumar to which he agreed. After the recording, he called me up one day and said, "I might have sung something that is totally unlike the way you sing. Please forgive me if I have committed any mistakes." I was overwhelmed and surprised at his humble attitude" said S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, recollecting his thoughts.

One Of A Kind

"As far as I know, Dr. Rajkumar has not lent his voice for other artists, other than himself. I believe I am an exception to that as he sang for my character in my movie. I was lucky" said Balasubrahmanyam.

Courtesy: Flimibeat

జన్మభూమి రుణం తీర్చుకుంటా


రావు బాలసరస్వతిదేవికి ఎస్పీ బాలసుబ్రహ్మణ్యం జాతీయ పురస్కారం ప్రదానం


Saturday, February 18, 2017

S P B thanks fans with 50th anniversary world tour

Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam, who is responsible for the on-screen singing voice of Indian superstar actor Rajinikanth, needed his son, 45, to nudge him into holding a 50th anniversary world tour to thank his fans.

The 70-year-old playback singer, who is better known as S P B, tells The Straits Times: "My son said to me, 'Without the audience, you would not have travelled around the world for the past 50 years, so don't you think that the minimum courtesy is to give a thanksgiving concert, anywhere and everywhere possible?'"

He will be performing in Singapore tonight as part of the tour to mark his 50 years in the music industry.

The concert at the Suntec Singapore Exhibition & Convention Centre, scheduled to last 31/2 hours, will feature a condensed version of his discography - he has recorded a staggering 40,000 songs in 14 languages, including Tamil, Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada and his mother tongue Telugu.

His hit songs include the National Film Award-winning Thanga Thamarai from Minsaara Kanavu (1997) and Balleilakka from Rajinikanth- starrer Sivaji (2007).

It is no wonder the singer says that the hardest part of the tour was deciding the setlist for the concert.

"The tough part is which songs to keep in and which songs to leave out," he quips, adding that if asked to pick a favourite, he would have "a list of a thousand songs".

In the Singapore leg, S P B will be joined on stage by other playback singers - namely Karthik, K S Chithra, Shweta Mohan, S P Sailaja and his son, Charan - who will be singing famous songs from his career.

When he started out in show business in his 20s, he thought he would record about 10 or 15 songs and call it a day.

Unlike many of his counterparts, he was not classically trained and he learnt everything by ear.

"I know that I'm not as theoretically sound as some of the other singers because I never learnt music from anybody," says S P B, who earned only 300 rupees a song back in the 1960s.

The secret to his stamina all these years is the audience.

"The energy of the audience keeps me afloat," he says.

"In 2017, when I come on stage, they still embrace me with the same love and affection... That satisfaction is something I can't explain."

His world tour kicked off in August last year. He made stops in Canada, Russia, Dubai and Sri Lanka and will next head to the United States.

While he is not as instantly recognisable as actors such as Rajinikanth and Kamal Haasan, both of whom he has been lending his singing voice to since the 1980s, he says that playback singers such as him are as much actors as the on-screen stars.

He says: "In the same way that actors inhabit characters in front of the camera, playback singers inhabit characters and have to emote in front of the microphone."

Demonstrating his point, he sings Unna Nenachen Paattu (from 1989 film Apoorva Sagodharargal), once vocalising plainly and, again, with a pained expression to reflect the pain and suffering of the lyrics of the song.

"Without expression, a song is nothing."

Courtesy: Straitstimes

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Balu dedicates award to lyricists




Rotary Club of Vijayawada honours him with lifetime achievement award

Famous playback singer and Padma Bhushan awardee S.P. Balasubrahmanyam on Sunday said the lifetime achievement award he received from the Rotary International here was an honour for all those involved in the making of a song.

He said he was a blessed child for he was lucky to make a mark in the field of music without knowing much about the basics.

“Maybe I could not finish my job in my last Janma [birth] that is the reason the Almighty had sent me to earth to enthral you for decades,” he said amid applause. He said he had been singing songs in more than 15 languages for 50 years.

He bemoaned the lack of interest among the new generation singers in enhancing their knowledge about the lyricists and music directors.“There are many lyricists like Senior Samudrala, Malladi, Arudra, Dasari, Narayana Reddy, Jaladi, Jonnavitthula, Samavedam Shanmukha Sarma but Veturi Sundrarama Murthy stood tall among them.”

He said the modern-day lyricists were capable of writing songs on par with the legendary seniors but unfortunately to make a living in the commercial world of cinema they were forced to compromise with their words.

He also advised the fans of top heroes to prevail over their idols in doing some meaningful films along with commercial films. “It is unfortunate that the awards are going to movies made in other languages,” he said.

Mr. Balasubrahmanyam said retirement meant not giving up work but giving up professional work and taking up the pursuit in which one’s heart is. “In my case, both profession and the pursuit are the same”.

Elaborating on his participation in the famous Padutha Theeyaga, a music programme aired by a popular channel, he said the programme was meant not to create singers but suggest corrective measures. “Some are lucky to sing songs in films.”

He said every programme was a learning curve for him and for the past 19 years he had been immensely benefited by the programme.

Senior Rotarians M.C. Das, Gopal Rao, K. Pattabhi Ramaiah and P. Krishnaji took part in the programme.

Ms. Roja Prassanatha, city’s noted whistle singer, won the appreciation from Mr. Balu for rendering a song from Sankarabharanam .

Mayur Orchestra honours Balu

In the evening, Mr. Balasubrahmanyam took part in the 37th anniversary of the Mayur Orchestra at the Tummalapalli Kalakshetram in which singers Vinod Babu, Vijaya Lakshmi, Rasool Babu and Mohammad Khaja rendered songs for close to three hours.

He was felicitated by founder director Mohammad Khaja.