S.P. Balasubrahmanyam : The singing moon of india
An extremely friendly and genial man who enjoyed his moments with interviewers, SPB once said he was fond of life and never wanted to die.
His voice effortlessly captured varied human emotions and feelings. In one scene he would sing a spoof — Pyar Kiya ja… In Ek duje ke liye’ a laugh in his voice- and in another scene he would powerfully express the anguished mind by rendering — mere rang me rang ne wali..’Maine Pyar Kiya’. Very few of us know that He had acted in South Indian films such as Manathil Uruthi Vendum, Keladi Kanmani, and Sikaram, besides scoring music for some films. Paadum Nila’ (Singing Moon) as he was called by his fans had a lilting voice with the finest traces of great singers.
“He was a breeze-like voice of A.M Raja, with the softness of the P.B. Srinivas and the effortlessness of Mohamed Rafi,” said film music historian Vamanan.
Popularly known as SPB, Balasubrahmanyam made his singing debut in 1966 with Telugu movie Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna. He has sung over 40,000 songs in as many as 16 languages including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Hindi.
Born Sripathi Paditha Arathyula Balasubramaniam, in 1946, to Nellore-based Harikatha exponent Sambamurthy, SPB’s ambition was to become an engineer. His failure to clear a subject in his PUC course forced him to pursue the now-defunct AMIE course in Chennai. But the music in his blood lured him towards singing competitions, and finally to the film world.
The beginning
His talent was spotted by another playback singer and music director S.P. Kothandapani, who was sitting among the audience at a competition at the Andhra Social and Cultural Society (ASCA) and he provided him with an opportunity to sing in the Telugu film Sri Mariatha Ramanna. SPB was one among the four singers — S.P. Kothandapani, P. Susheela, P.B. Srinivas, and Eelapada Raguramaiha — who rendered the ragamalika song, Emi Evindha Mogum.
“Anyone who had listened to the part he rendered for Shoban Babu would have realized the potential in the voice. It proved to be a prelude for a recording career in film music,” said Mr. Vamanan. As they say, the rest was history.
The voice that united Indian film fans.
The award for Tamil films eluded him many years even though his collaboration with music directors Ilayaraja and M.S. Viswanathan had resulted in innumerable memorable duets, solos, folk songs, spoofs, and songs with classical touches. He finally won it for the song Thanga Thamarai in the film Minsara Kanavu for which the music was scored by A.R. Rahman.
He was a legendary “playback singer” — that is, his voice was pre-recorded for use in films in which actors would lip-sync to the songs. He sang for top composers of his time, including AR Rahman and Ilaiyaraaja.
In Bollywood
His breakthrough Bollywood film came in 1981 when he sang for Ek Duuje Ke Liye (We Are Made For Each Other), a romantic tragedy that was one of the year’s biggest hits.
The versatile singer, who was also an accomplished and award-winning actor, has sung across all the major film industries in South India and has been the toast of Bollywood too during the late 80s and early 90s, especially as the voice of Salman Khan. He was the singer who regaled fans with the songs in those hit films like Maine Pyaar Kiya and Saajan. From Salman’s first big hit song to most of the hit tracks, before the advent of Anu Malik’s music direction for his film, SPB was the default voice that was associated with him.
S P Balasubramaniam is one of India’s finest playback singers. A recipient of 6 National Awards, he also holds the Guinness Record for the highest numbers of songs.
Even today these songs made us feel like anything
Bahut Pyar Karte Hain tum ko snam_Sajan
Dil Deewana_ Maine Pyar Kiya
Tumse Milne Ki_Saajan
Pehla Pehla Pyar Hai_Hum Aapke Hain Koun
Sathiya Ye Tune Kya Kiya_Love
Sach Mere Yaar Hai Bas Wohi_Sagar
Hum Bane Tum Bane_ Ek Duuje Ke Liye
Roja Jaaneman_Roja
Kabhi Tu Chaliya Lagta Hai_Patthar Ke Phool
Mere Jeevan Saathi_Ek Duuje Ke Liye..
Wah wah ram ji_ hum aapke hai kaun.
Mere Rang Mai rang ne vali_maine Pyar Kiya.
Popularity, Achievements, and records
Working in four southern Indian language film industries kept Balasubrahmanyam busy through the 1970s until the end of the last decade. He became the highest-paid singer in southern India.
Balasubrahmanyam hopped from one music studio to another, recording as many as three new songs every day for more than two decades.
At the height of his popularity, he once spent 17 hours in a single day recording songs for different composers.
In 1981, Balasubrahmanyam created a record by recording 21 new songs in the Kannada language from morning until night for a film music composer.
When Bollywood demanded work of him, he would fly to Mumbai, record Hindi songs for films, and return to Chennai in the evening.
In 1992, he recorded some memorable romantic numbers for Oscar-winning composer AR Rahman for the blockbuster hit, Roja.
His versatile voice lent itself to romantic and classical songs. He was also a flamboyant yodeller and sang bouncy dance tracks.
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First national award
SPB bagged his first national award for Sankarabharanam, even though all the songs in the Telugu film are based on pure Carnatic ragas. He was never formally trained in Carnatic music, but that did not stop him, not then, not ever.
“Even SPB had apprehensions about taking on the assignment as he had no proper training in classical music. It was T.K. Pugazhlendi, the assistant of music director K.V. Mahadevan who persuaded SPB to render the songs,” said Mr. Vamanan. And what a hit they turned out to be.
the time he won the award, was for his first Hindi song, Tere Mere Beech Mein in the film Ek Duuje Ke Liye.
Awards came his way for the Telugu films Sagarasangamam and Rudraveena. Sangeetha Sagara Ganayogi Panchakshara Gavai, the Kannada film won him the fifth national award.
Balasubrahmanyam received two of India’s top civilian honors, Padma Shri in 2001, and Padma Bhushan in 2011.
Balasubrahmanyam sang thousands of songs in South Indian languages and in Hindi for five decades for generations of actors — from MGR, Sivaji Ganesan, and Gemini Ganesan, down to the stars of the present -He also had won the hearts of several fans across the world for whom his songs have marked milestones.
He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter — both are playback singers.
His last few days
Balasubrahmanyam was hospitalized in August at MGM after testing positive for COVID-19, and while he reportedly did well initially, he took a turn for the worse and was put on a ventilator and ECMO support.
On September 4, he tested negative for COVID-19 but continued to be on the ventilator and ECMO even as he participated in passive physiotherapy.
In a further setback morning,25th September despite maximal life support measures and the best efforts of the clinical team, his condition deteriorated further and he suffered a cardio-respiratory arrest.
SPB is no more, but his voice will live on.
Originally published at https://www.thelitthings.com on June 5, 2020.
