Epitome of versatility
A. RAMALINGA SASTRY
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Getting to know the musical genius SPB better.
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Photo: C.V.Subrahmanyam
SINGING LEGEND S. P. Balasubramanyam continues to enthral.
It was a moment of great pride and gratification for everyone present at the Kalabharathi auditorium last weekend, where legendary singer S. P. Balasubramanyam was given the prestigious Sri Raja-Lakshmi Foundation Award. It was also a momentous occasion for Balu, as he is warmly called, to have received the award in his shashtipurthi year from the Sadguru Sivananda Murty.
A scion of an orthodox Saivite family, Balu born on the June 6, 1946 in Konetammapeta in Nellore district is the second son of the highly virtuous Sripati Panditharadhyula Sambamurty, a Harikatha exponent of high esteem.
Gifted with an impeccably rhythmic and resonant melody in the voice, coupled with insuperable capability of articulating it in the mandhra, madhyama, tara and even atitara sthayis. He not only learnt singing , but also to play the flute and harmonium on his own as even as a young child. Destined to become a singing legend and by divine providence, he was made to go to Chennai doing his engineering and happened to stand first in a light music competition that was held in the presence of music director late S.P. Kodandapani. Attracted by Balu's talent , Kodandapani made him sing for the movie Sri Sri Sri Maryadaramanna in 1966. Before Balu got established as a playback singer, he was leading a light music troupe as the main singer, Ilayaraja and his brothers Bhaskar and Gangai Amaran were in charge of string and percussion instruments. Opportunities started pouring in for Balu to sing not only in Telugu but also in Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam films. As his stupendous felicity to be able to sing in any language without losing its native charm got revealed, he got chance to sing in Tulu, Oriya, Assamese, Panjabi and even Hindi. He created history by not only bagging the National Award for his very first song in Hindi for the movie Ek Duje Ke Liye, but also by being drafted to compose music for more than three dozen films, besides hundred of devotional, romantic and folk songs. He proved himself to be an excellent actor too by portraying a variety of characters in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada films and also lends his voice for rendering dialogues for many actors.
Balu exploits the quality of amazing malleability in his voice with commendable authority to suit the particular situation and actor.
Recipient of many a titles like Kalaprapoorna, Kalaimamani from the Government of Tamil Nadu, besides national awards for his songs in Sankarabharanam in 1979, Ek Duje Ke Liye (Hindi) in 1981, Saagarasangamam in 1983, Rudraveena in 1988, Gaanayogi (Kannada) in 1995 and Minsara Kannavu (Tamil) recently.Having recorded a little over 36,000 songs of varied fervour in different languages, in a span of about 39 years, he stands credited with a record that warrants not only a mention in the Guinness Book of World Records, but also be considered for conferment of national titles.
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