When he won his first national award for the Telugu film 바카라Shankarabarnam바카라(1979), singing for the film바카라s protagonist바카라 a Carnatic musician바카라 Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam confessed that he had never learnt Carnatic music. When he won his second national award for 바카라Ek Duje Ke Liye바카라(1981), he confessed again - that he did not know Hindi.
What helped S.P. Balasubrahmanyam or fondly known as SPB overcome these 바카라deficiencies바카라 while climbing the pinnacle of film music were his dedication, never say die attitude and loads of talent to back his golden voice. 바카라Balu would listen to the tune just once and would be ready for the take. Such was his 바카라kelvi gnanam바카라 (ability to grasp by just listening),바카라 commented legendary composer M.S. Viswanathan, who gave SPB his first break in Tamil cinema in 1969 through 바카라Shanthi Nilayam바카라 (an adaptation of Jane Eyre). The film and hence the song got delayed.
So as luck would have it SPB바카라s first song to be heard by Tamil listeners was for the MGR-Jayalalitha starrer 바카라Adimai Penn바카라 a box office hit that got released in 1969. MGR, who till then had refused to let anyone but T.M. Soundararajan sing for him, and was convinced by the film바카라s music director K.V. Mahadevan that SPB record the duet 바카라Ayiram Nilavey Vaa바카라. MGR loved it so much that he called the young singer to his house and gifted him a gold ring. The song and the singer went on to become raging hits. Since then SPB has been the reigning male playback singer in Tamil cinema.
Subsequently SPB became the most sought after male voice for any romantic song in Tamil cinema and then in Telugu and other South Indian languages as well. A great fan of Mohammed Rafi, SPB said that the Hindi singer was his inspiration to sing romantic songs with such passion and involvement. For someone who got his break in Tamil cinema he could win his first national award in Tamil only in 1996, the previous five having gone for songs in Telugu, Kannada and Hindi. Of course he picked up more than a dozen Filmfare awards and state government awards on the way.
But awards and recognition hardly mattered for this engineer turned singer. He would gladly oblige any new or upcoming music composer saying it gave him another opportunity to explore creativity and recognize talent. When A.R. Rahman first recorded him for 바카라Roja바카라 (1992), the bulky singer had to squeeze himself into a small glass cubicle to record his songs. 바카라Yet, he came for three days and recorded them with always a smile on his face,바카라 Rahman recalled later about his first film experience.
Always smiling, always singing, SPB was also known for his productivity 바카라 he could easily record half a dozen songs in a day, hopping between studios and singing for different composers and even languages on a single day. No wonder he holds the Indian record for having the highest number of songs 바카라 more than 40,000 in 14 Indian languages. Once he recorded 17 songs in Kannada for composer Upendra Kumar in Bangalore from 9.00 a.m. to 9.00 p.m. in 1981 - a record. He sang over 2,000 songs for Ilayaraaja alone. Whatever the language he would make sure to get the pronunciation right.
An example of his magnanimity can be seen the way he encouraged another playback singer, Mano, even though he had a similar voice and style. 바카라He spoke to Ilayaraaja and had me sing for Rajinikanth. Who will have such a heart?바카라 asks Mano. Later when SPB had to take a break after a surgery on his vocal chords he called every top music director and asked them to use Mano.
It was only a matter of time before his singing talent led SPB to composing music for films 바카라 he has scored music for 45 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi. His acting talent was discovered by the redoubtable film director K. Balachander. He went on to act in 45 films in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. 바카라Acting came easily to me since a singer emotes in front of the microphone and innumerable stage shows meant that I had no stage or camera fear,바카라 he said.
But for millions of fans across the world SPB would always be first and foremost a singer par excellence. His haunting melodies, delectable duets, energetic dance numbers and the resounding philosophical songs of one of India바카라s most loved singers would keep resonating forever.
