S.P. Balasubrahmanyam shares some interesting anecdotes about his life as a veteran musician.
Much has been read, written and heard about the veteran that your first thought could be ‘What don’t we know about him?’ S.P. Balasubrahmanyam himself felt so. “I’ve said it all,” was his initial refrain. But once I list my queries which accented on little known details of his career, he zestfully settled down to field them.
First rendezvous with the microphone
“It was in the mid-1950s,” he ruminates with a smile, “at a marriage in my mother’s native village of Konetammapeta in Nellore. ‘Why don’t you sing on the mike,’ a friend suggested. It was ‘Krishna Mukundha Murarey’ from the N.T. Rama Rao film, ‘Jaisimha,’ and everybody around enjoyed it.”
“December 15, 1966.” SPB is thorough with dates. “It was an eventful day. The film was ‘Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna’ in Telugu and the recording was at Vijaya Gardens. The composer was Kothandapani. Those were the days when I was a student living in a small room for a monthly rent of Rs.10.”
“The car, which was supposed to pick me up, did not arrive till 3.30. It was my friend Murali who insisted we go to the studio and find out. When the security at the entrance stopped us and sarcastically said, ‘So they are waiting for you inside because you are a hero?’ I was pained. ‘Let’s leave Murali,’ I said. But he wouldn’t budge. ‘I will wait outside with his cycle. Just allow him to go inside,’ he pleaded, and the guard gave a reluctant nod. As I entered drenched in sweat, the composer hollered, “So you are already famous that you can’t be punctual for the recording!” And I was called inside with the warning, ‘See, if we are not happy with your voice, we may replace it with Ghantasala’s.’ It dampened my spirit further. It was the first time I put on a headphone. It was a duet with Suseela. Once it was over the team came out and congratulated me.”
P.S.: The car that had gone to fetch SPB to the studio had met with a minor accident.
“Dad was a Harikatha artist. I used some of his instruments and formed my troupe in 1960. We had a pair of empty ‘Dalda’ tins welded and it was our ‘bongos.’ Nagaraja, a friend, was the male singer while mine was the female voice. The first VIP to listen to my music was actor P. Banumathi,” SPB smiles.
“Much earlier, my father wrote a lyric, which I set to music. It won me a prize at the AIR competition. Cut to 1975 when I got to compose for Dasari Narayana Rao’s ‘Ganya- Kumari.’ M.S. Viswanathan came over to bless me. ‘You should go according to the texture of the song. Why a 40-piece orchestra for this number,’ he asked. The words still ring in my ears.
“The film was Cho’s ‘Mohammad Bin Thuglak’ in Telugu. I remember wearing a pink suit for the sequence. I played a singer and had to do dance movements. Frankly, I wasn’t comfortable at all, because, though good looking, I was camera-shy,” he chuckles self-consciously.
Courtesy: The Hindu
Monday, December 1, 2014
Of a missing car and Dalda tins
Friday, October 31, 2014
Sunday, October 26, 2014
Proscenium for litterateurs
The young man with a golden voice approached the inimitable composer M.S. Viswanathan for an opportunity to sing in Tamil cinema. “Your voice is commendable but your Tamil diction has to improve. Learn the language and come back,” MSV advised him. The youngster took almost four years to do it, before he returned to prove his mettle. And how! S.P. Balasubrahmanyam’s grit and perseverance has now taken him to a dais where he was asked to speak on Kannadasan!
“I love the language,” he said, when he began his speech at the 11th anniversary celebrations of the Kannadasan-Viswanathan Trust held this past week at the Kumararaja Muthiah Auditorium, Raja Annamalaipuram.
Initially, the invite for the show was intriguing! Besides well-known speakers was the name of the illustrious singer, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam! The topic was ‘The garland of songs I rendered for Kannadasan’s verses.’
“I will sing some of Kannadasan’s lines that have touched me and yours too,” he explained. The combo of a medley interspersed with interesting inputs was crisp. His emotional one-liners added to the poignancy. It wasn’t just SPB’s numbers. He also brought alive the melodies of P.B. Srinivos and T.M. Soundarrajan.
“This last song wasn’t planned,” he confessed. “But as I conclude, it is as though Kannadasan is telling me, ‘How can you not sing this song. So here it is,” smiled SPB and sang the ever soothing lullaby in Kannadasan’s words and MSV’s music, ‘Aayarpaadi Maaligaiyil. ’ It was the crowning glory of the evening. “I have been unwell for the past week and told director S.P. Muthuraman so. He said, ‘You just come over and Kannadasan will take care of the rest. So here I am,” began SPB earlier. (SPM is the treasurer of the Kannadasan-Viswanathan Trust and AVM Saravanan, its secretary.) SPB wasn’t his usual exuberant self. Indisposition seemed the reason. “Let’s give him a standing ovation,” said
SPM at the end of SPB’s session and the crowd gladly obliged. Later near the door when SPM told Mrs. SPB, “Take care of your husband’s health. He is our treasure,” the veracity of the words was striking.
“‘How do you compose such exquisite melodies,’ I once asked MSV. ‘I only bring out the music in Kannadasan’s lyrics,’ he told me,” SPB recalled. He seemed as much moved by the numbers he sang as he was by his exchanges with their creators. The invitees on the dais included Nalli Kuppuswamy Chetty and M. Murali (Sri Krishna Sweets).
Pa. Lakshmanan of ‘Ilakkiya Sindhanai’ shared several interesting bytes about Kannadasan. His reference to Kannadasan’s wish to have a long life touched an emotional chord in the hearts of the audience.
Dr. Meena Muthiah lighted the ceremonial lamp and Kannadasan devotee Kaviri Maindhan emceed the event. This year’s recipients of the Kannadasan Award were poet Aru. Nagappan and journalist Kayal Dinakaran. Student prize winners, including best speakers Simanjana and Nandini, were feted.
Throughout the evening, S.P. Muthuraman was on his feet literally, making every speaker aware of the need to adhere to the time limit specified. But for such an efficient moderator the evening would have dragged on and made the audience restless.
Courtesy: The Hindu
“I love the language,” he said, when he began his speech at the 11th anniversary celebrations of the Kannadasan-Viswanathan Trust held this past week at the Kumararaja Muthiah Auditorium, Raja Annamalaipuram.
Initially, the invite for the show was intriguing! Besides well-known speakers was the name of the illustrious singer, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam! The topic was ‘The garland of songs I rendered for Kannadasan’s verses.’
“I will sing some of Kannadasan’s lines that have touched me and yours too,” he explained. The combo of a medley interspersed with interesting inputs was crisp. His emotional one-liners added to the poignancy. It wasn’t just SPB’s numbers. He also brought alive the melodies of P.B. Srinivos and T.M. Soundarrajan.
“This last song wasn’t planned,” he confessed. “But as I conclude, it is as though Kannadasan is telling me, ‘How can you not sing this song. So here it is,” smiled SPB and sang the ever soothing lullaby in Kannadasan’s words and MSV’s music, ‘Aayarpaadi Maaligaiyil. ’ It was the crowning glory of the evening. “I have been unwell for the past week and told director S.P. Muthuraman so. He said, ‘You just come over and Kannadasan will take care of the rest. So here I am,” began SPB earlier. (SPM is the treasurer of the Kannadasan-Viswanathan Trust and AVM Saravanan, its secretary.) SPB wasn’t his usual exuberant self. Indisposition seemed the reason. “Let’s give him a standing ovation,” said
SPM at the end of SPB’s session and the crowd gladly obliged. Later near the door when SPM told Mrs. SPB, “Take care of your husband’s health. He is our treasure,” the veracity of the words was striking.
“‘How do you compose such exquisite melodies,’ I once asked MSV. ‘I only bring out the music in Kannadasan’s lyrics,’ he told me,” SPB recalled. He seemed as much moved by the numbers he sang as he was by his exchanges with their creators. The invitees on the dais included Nalli Kuppuswamy Chetty and M. Murali (Sri Krishna Sweets).
Pa. Lakshmanan of ‘Ilakkiya Sindhanai’ shared several interesting bytes about Kannadasan. His reference to Kannadasan’s wish to have a long life touched an emotional chord in the hearts of the audience.
Dr. Meena Muthiah lighted the ceremonial lamp and Kannadasan devotee Kaviri Maindhan emceed the event. This year’s recipients of the Kannadasan Award were poet Aru. Nagappan and journalist Kayal Dinakaran. Student prize winners, including best speakers Simanjana and Nandini, were feted.
Throughout the evening, S.P. Muthuraman was on his feet literally, making every speaker aware of the need to adhere to the time limit specified. But for such an efficient moderator the evening would have dragged on and made the audience restless.
Courtesy: The Hindu
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Saluri Rajeswara Rao award for S.P.Balu
Rasamayi, which has been presenting awards in the name of the renowned music director Late Saluri Rajeswara Rao for the last 13 years, has selected S.P.Balasubramaniam this year for this award.
This event will be held on Oct 25th at Ravindra Bharathi in Hyderabad. Singers will sing some famous songs composed by Saluri Rajeswara Rao.
High court chief justice L.Narasimha Reddy will attend this event as the chief guest. Shantha Biotechnics owner K.I.Varaprasad Reddy, Saluri Koti, Saluri Vasurao, Saluri Purnachandra Rao etc will attend this event.
Courtesy: India Glitz
Thursday, October 16, 2014
SPB records Rajinikanth's intro song for Lingaa
It is a reign that singer SP Balasubrahmanyam sings the introduction song for Superstar Rajinikanth in his films. Following the tradition, SPB has sung one more song for upcoming film Lingaa. The legendary singer has recorded Rajinikanth's Lingaa introduction song under AR Rahman composition. Vairamuthu has penned the song. Thalaivar fans are very happy with the news and eagerly waiting for Lingaa music album.
Meanwhile, KS Ravikumar has completed all the talkies of Lingaa and three songs were filmed including the introduction song. Anushka, Sonakshi Sinha, Santhanam, Karunakaran and others are part of Rajinikanth's Lingaa cast. Rathnavelu is the cameraman for this Rockline Venkatesh production.
Lingaa audio releases on Diwali day and movie from December 12.
Courtesy: Times of India
Sankarabharanam was an epic journey: SP Balasubrahmanyam
The digitally restored Tamil dubbed version of Telugu cult classic Sankarabharanam is slated for release in October. Playback singer S.P Balasubrahmanyam aka SPB, who had crooned all the songs in the film, says that it's an epic journey of his life.
Directed by K. Vishwanath, Sankarabharanam released in 1980. "The number of hours I have spoken about Sankarabharanam over 30 years would run into infinity and this is an epic journey in my life," SPB said in a statement. Recalling how he got an opportunity to sing in the film, SPB said, "I still remember the time when the film was shot in Telugu; my brother-like filmmaker K. Vishwanath narrated the story to my father at my home. He requested my father to ask me if I could record the songs for this film before other tracks".
"At that time, I was recording for around 4-5 songs a day. When Vishwanath wanted me to croon the numbers, I openly confessed that I'm not expert in classical genre and someone else than me would do complete justice," he added. It was Vishwanath's assistant Pugazhenthi who trained SPB in classical music.
"I used to hear the songs recorded in the voice of Pugazhenthi relentlessly to get used to the track and then recorded the tracks," said SPB. Sankarabharanama is a very special film for the playback singer as it won his first National award. He feels that "the film dubbed in Tamil with digital restoration will be a delightful experience for the present generation of audience". The film features late actor J.V. Somayajulu, Manju Bhargavi and Chandra Mohan in the lead roles.
Courtesy: Times of India
Directed by K. Vishwanath, Sankarabharanam released in 1980. "The number of hours I have spoken about Sankarabharanam over 30 years would run into infinity and this is an epic journey in my life," SPB said in a statement. Recalling how he got an opportunity to sing in the film, SPB said, "I still remember the time when the film was shot in Telugu; my brother-like filmmaker K. Vishwanath narrated the story to my father at my home. He requested my father to ask me if I could record the songs for this film before other tracks".
"At that time, I was recording for around 4-5 songs a day. When Vishwanath wanted me to croon the numbers, I openly confessed that I'm not expert in classical genre and someone else than me would do complete justice," he added. It was Vishwanath's assistant Pugazhenthi who trained SPB in classical music.
"I used to hear the songs recorded in the voice of Pugazhenthi relentlessly to get used to the track and then recorded the tracks," said SPB. Sankarabharanama is a very special film for the playback singer as it won his first National award. He feels that "the film dubbed in Tamil with digital restoration will be a delightful experience for the present generation of audience". The film features late actor J.V. Somayajulu, Manju Bhargavi and Chandra Mohan in the lead roles.
Courtesy: Times of India
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
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