Melody is his forte
M.L. NARASIMHAM
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Muralidhar's pleasant voice has managed to stave off competition and made him popular in the industry.
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Singing in style: Muralidhar
Compared to yesteryear singers, the present crop has one problem. Heavy competition. Not just from singers who are conversant in their mother tongue but also from singers from other regional languages, thanks to a voice boom brought in by A.R. Rahman that transcends boundaries and diction.
Amidst this, a couple of Telugu-speaking singers are working hard to find a firm footing in movie music. Muralidhar is one such singer, who has juggled his way from singing jingles to singing for films. His foot tapping number Bunny... Bunny (from the film Bunny) composed by Devi Sri Prasad has sent his fans into a frenzy. The singer's recent repertoire includes Bapu's Radha Gopalam, Oka Oorilo, Hungama and the dubbed film Manmadha.
A favourite with Pawan Kalyan, Murali first sang for him in Khushi and the song, a remix of A.M. Raja's classic rendition, Adavari matalaku ardhale verule, won him much appreciation. "I am indebted to Pawan Kalyan and music director Manisharma for retaining my voice for the song," says Murali. And his renderings for the maverick actor in Gudumba Shankar — Killi Killi and Lokaale Gelavaali, a duet (with Chitra) from the film, Balu were chartbusters too. Much before that, he had sung for the actor in Gokulamlo Seetha.
Murali started his career as an assistant to the legendary music director Saluri Rajeswara Rao. "After completing my graduation from the Sri Venkateswara Music and Dance College in Tirupati, I went to Chennai and joined the maestro as his assistant. Perhaps, I was the last assistant to this legendary composer. Later, I worked with his sons, Vasu Rao whom I regard as my guru, and his brother Koti. It was Vasu Rao who gave me my first assignment as a singer with Mama Alludu," recalls Murali.
Now, he also collaborates with Koti for stage shows. Vasu Rao, his mentor, says that a common friend and musician, Wilson, brought Murali to him. "After listening to him, I found it distinctly different. I gave him tips about the changing trends in movie singing and taught him mike balancing. I made him sing for my films and gave him the audiotapes of his voice after echo reverberation and equalisation so that he could try his luck with other music directors too. He has a perfect knowledge of laya and swara."
Murali's first stint with stage singing came from G. Anand's Swaramadhuri troupe. "It was a rewarding experience," says Murali. "Even without those stage shows he could have gone places as he can render a song in any scale. Long ago, he sang a comedy number for Suthi Velu in Jandhyala's Ladies Special. Now that his time has come, I am sure Murali will find his rightful place in Telugu film music," feels Anand.
With over 300 film songs in his kitty (including dubbed films), Murali had extended his singing career to Tamil with Vijayakanth's Narasimha. "Manisharma has asked me to sing the song. I thought it is for track recording and another singer will be called for the final take. But Vijayakanth, the film's hero, liked it so much he asked it to be retained," smiles Murali. He had also sung for a Kannada film besides singing about 600 devotional songs for private albums mostly for composer Purushotham Sai.
His happiest moment came when he rendered the title song for the dubbed Prabhu Deva-starrer, Saththi, The reason... he has rendered it with his daughter Haripriya, a first standard student, and it is her debut too.
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Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
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