Sixteen Forever..

 I cried a lot when my mother passed away in August 2013.

I cried more when my father passed away in June 2019.

I cried inconsolably on the 26th of September 2020 and the reason is obvious. If there is one person's death I am yet to come to terms with, it is this gentleman's death. Even now tears well up in my eyes when I listen to his songs and even if I simply hum the songs mentally(attendees of Raaja Deepam -25 know this!).

"You have a very nice voice. But let me tell you two things. One, you tend to imitate Mohammed Rafi. Please do not imitate anybody. Have your own style. Two, you are looking very weak and puny. If you aim to become a professional singer, you need to have good stamina. Please become more strong physically..", said a leading female singer- when she presided over a Inter-College Music competition.

Even in their wildest dreams, the two would not have dreamt that they would sing together one day and go on to become one of the most successful and loved Duet voices of South India.

The female singer’s name is Janaki and the ‘boy’ was S.P.Balasubrahmanyam.

He tried to follow her advice but could not shed his imitation of his idol Mohammed Rafi for at least 10 years ,a fact reflected in his earlier songs like ‘AvaL oru Navarasa Naatakam’(Ulagam Sutrum Vaaliban) and ‘Thoduvathenna thendralo malargaLo’(Sabhatam).The last mentioned song is special for some other reason and I shall come to that soon.

We all know how religiously he followed her second advice!

Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam was born in a village near Nellore. His father was deeply into music and used to perform Harikatha. He was steeped in classical music. However, Balasubrahmanyam did not have any formal training on music despite this. He wanted to pursue a career in Engineering, and joined the Engineering college in Anantapur.This is when fate intervened. He developed typhoid and had to discontinue his studies.

With the tag of ‘Engineer’ in his mind he travelled to Madras and enrolled himself for the AMIE course. Of course, he could not forget his ‘Hobby’ and regularly participated in Inter-College Music Competitions.

Having won the first prize in a prestigious event-Music Competition organized by the Madras Telugu Cultural Academy, he was offered play back singing by the great legend S.P.Kothandapani (don’t be misled by the similarity in the initials. Both are not related).SPB recorded his first song in the year 1966 when he was just 20 years old. He continued to pursue his studies since there were not too many offers.

Once Director Shridhar heard him sing in his office and immediately put him on to MSV sir. The great MSV who never fails to spot and appreciate talent gave him a chance to sing in a movie called ‘Hotel Rambha’. The movie was dropped and SPB was waiting for that big break.

His first recorded song that also appeared on the screen was from the film ‘Paal kudam’, MSV being the MD.

And then it happened….

SPB was practising a song in a studio when a person called MGR passed by. The great Rasika in MGR was instantly impressed with the voice and he decided to give a chance to the new kid in his forthcoming project ‘Adimaip peN’ with music by K.V.Mahadevan.

SPB was thrilled. His Dream finally came true!

The ‘D-Day’ arrived. Fate intervened yet again and SPB was down with very high fever on the day of the recording. Opportunity of a life time lost!

After about a month or so, he was pleasantly surprised to see a car waiting outside to pick him up. He was told that it was sent by MGR who wanted to know if he had recovered from the fever. The excited SPB rushed in the car and saw MGR surrounded by a posse of press people. MGR quietly introduced him as the ‘young singer’ who was going to sing a song for him! 'Aayiram nilave vaa’ was recorded after 11 takes.. and the rest is history.

SPB’s association with Raaja sir started around the same time. Raaja sir and his brothers joined his light-music troupe on the recommendation of Bharathirajaa (who was an assistant to Puttana Kanagal on the recommendation of SPB!).

The ‘Five-man army’(Raaja, Gangai Amaran, Bhaskar, SPB, Bharathirajaa) became very close sharing almost everything!

SPB started singing fairly a good number of songs. The ‘Sabhatam’ song quoted in the beginning was composed by G.K.Venkatesh with Raaja playing the lead-guitar.

As he recollects his nostalgic moments, SPB would never fail to mention the spark he found in the eyes of the ‘guitarist’ when he played in his troupe!

Frequently, he also talks about ‘Naan pesa vandhen..’ because that was his first song for his long-term friend.

Today’s song is also special for some other reason. This was the first song for his yet another close friend.

The song is ‘Mudhal mudhalaaga Kaadhal duet’ from the film ‘NiRam maaratha PookkaL’(1979).

But was this not Bharathiraaja’s 5th film? Why did he not sing in his first 4 films?

Another interesting story!

Songs for ’16 Vayathinile’ were being recorded and SPB was the obvious choice for ‘Aattukkutti Muttai ittu..’.On the eve of the recording, both the Raajas warned him to be careful and give up his ‘nocturnal habits’ at least temporarily. But SPB being SPB would not listen to them and arrived at the recording studio with a bad throat!

But Bharathirajaa is not MGR. He refused to accept any excuse. The song was finally sung by Malaysia Vasudevan.

Bharathirajaa was angry beyond words. Yes..he was the one who introduced him to Puttanna. He was the one who helped his close friend. He was the one who helped all of them whenever there was a problem. In fact, even the script of ’16 Vayathinile’ was with SPB for a long time(it was called ‘Mayilu’ then).

But how could he make himself not available in his very first movie?

The first 4 movies -16 Vayathinile, Kizhakke Pogum Rail, Sigappu RojakkaL, Puthiya VaarpugaL- had the voice of Malaysia Vasudevan, Jayachandran and ILaiyaraaja.

Finally, it was truce and SPB’s voice made its first appearance in ‘NiRam Maaratha PookkaL. Ironically, the Pallavi is ‘Mudhal mudhalaaga kaadhal duet paada vanthene’(I have come here to sing the first Love duet for you).It could also be that Gangai Amaran wrote this line intentionally.

The song is a kind of comedy song with the hero trying to pacify the heroine.

The song starts with a very different music that straightaway makes us visualize a comical scene.

We see the hero running after the Heroine on the street with the Heroine giving him a short shrift.

Can any other composer even think of giving such a Prelude?

One cannot miss the Rafi influence in SPB in the Pallavi.

The use of trumpets and other wind instruments in the first interlude gives a jazzy feel. And suddenly what do we hear? The Harmonium!

Seamless transition..

The first CharaNam is interesting with the Heroine throwing rotten eggs at the Hero as the Hero is busy acting in a play with another woman.

Janaki’s voice typifies a possessive woman while SPB’s voice cringes like a hen-pecked husband.

The second interlude starts with a differently sounding flute followed by the strings and the wind instruments. Do not miss the Bass guitar!

The next part is what makes SPB, a singer nonpareil. He changes his voice like a ‘AaNdi PaaNdaram’( a roadside beggar). Who else can make a soft voice sound so differently?

That is where the greatness of SPB lies.

What differentiates a genius from ordinary is the ability to adapt to situations.

He waited patiently and sang for a great legend- saying ‘Oh..you are equal to one thousand moons!’.

He waited patiently for his musical close friend to make it big as a composer and sang for him-‘I came to speak to you but am lost for words(looking at your genius and success!)..’

He waited patiently and sang in his yet another close friend’s movie-‘Came to sing my very first duet for you..’

SPB -The Maarkandeya!

Ps: Indha Degam MaRainthaalum Isaiyaai Malarvaai. You will emerge as Music and will live forever!