There has hardly ever been a replay singer in the history of Indian films who can transcend the borders of regionalities and languages and move millions of hearts with his songs as SP Balasubrahmanyam always did. Affectionately known as SPB, he sang in 16 different languages, including Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam. However, his mother tongue was always music. He often told his fans: “Everyone has made me sing in so many different languages and everyone who speaks those languages has always thought that their language belongs to me too. I am very proud of that.”
The unique timbre and texture of her voice could not only create chart-topping hits, but also memorable numbers, which have already reached cult status. However, he often claimed that his songs were far from perfect. In an old interview with The HinduThe singer had confessed, “… I feel like I could have sung better. I wonder how I had so many opportunities … I’m not saying it out of humility. It’s a million dollar question that will haunt me as long as I live.” Unfortunately, it is a question that seems quite redundant today, as we collectively mourn the death of the teacher due to the coronavirus, as well as celebrate the legacy that he has left, that no one, from music experts to famous musicians like AR Rahman. or Ilaiyaraaja – would ever consider anything but perfect.
SPB’s vocal perfection, however, has a lot to do with his emotionality. His songs like Saajan’s Bahut Pyaar Karte Hai or Hum Aapke Hain Koun’s Pehla Pehla Pyaar Hai were so full of emotions that they could express the depths of romance even when the person syncing them was a lanky young Salman Khan, with astonished eyes. , and a chiseled torso and no trace of emotion on his face.
Class law
Part of the reason for her expressive voice was her ability to act, so she could display a variety of emotions even in her voice. Despite singing more than 40,000 songs in her long and illustrious career (which is, in itself, a world record), SPB also made time to act in various films. The memorable ones among them are Thiruda Thiruda and Kadhalan. His zeal for acting, in fact, began when he was a child, as he acted in plays alongside his father, who was a Harikatha artist.
One of his childhood anecdotes relates how SPB (who was about five years old at the time) had fallen asleep before staging a play in which his father, SP Sambamurthy, played the role of Ramadas, while that the SPB himself interpreted the character of the son of Ramadas. When it was SPB’s signal to go on stage, they hastily woke him up and sent him straight to the stage, where his father (who was already in the character of Ramadas) was tied up. As he was still sleepy, it did not occur to little SPB that he was in a play. He saw his father tied up and began to cry in anguish. The audience, however, did not know the reasons for his tears and thought he was a talented actor. Later in life, SPB did indeed show that he possessed great natural acting talent as he played some iconic father roles on screen.
The voice of the gods (from the screen)
One of the reasons SPB could sing in so many languages was because he was a fan of diction. He often sat down with the lyricists to understand the essence of words, dialect, pronunciation, and most importantly, how they come together in a song to convey a specific meaning or emotion. Thus, even if he did not know or understand a certain language completely, he could still sing wonderfully in it. For example, he won a national award for Kamal Hasaan star Ek Duuje Ke Liye when he had little knowledge of Hindi.
Perhaps it is this training and devotion to understanding words that also made SPB such an extraordinary dubbing. He supported various screen idols, including Kamal Hasaan, Rajinikanth, and Mohanlal. Reports claim that for Dasavathaaram, SPB dubbed 7 of the 10 different voices that were required for the 10 roles played by Kamal Haasan. His voice was also used by Hasan in Bhamane Satyabhamane. For Mohanlal, SPB’s voice was used in Mani Ratnam’s Iruvar. When Rajinikanth’s Tamil film Kuselan was dubbed in Telugu, SPB had also lent his voice for the actor.
Mix of styles and genres
Although SPB never received any classical training, it covered a huge variety of music, which very few singers can. He received his first national award for Shankarabarnam, for which he had sung carnatic songs for the protagonist, although he had no formal training in carnatic music. A staunch Rafi fan, when he was 17 years old, when he went to auditions he would sing one of Rafi’s songs, from the movie Dosti. The fascinating way that Rafi changed scale and evoked emotions fascinated him. Little did he know at the time, that not only would he sing many more songs than Rafi ever did, but he would also receive the same kind of love and respect that Rafi had in Indian music. More than anything, Balasubrahmanyam’s songs became a pattern of romantic melodies, not only in Hindi but also in the Tamil film industry. His songs were also a wonderful confluence of the classic and the modern.
In the absence of training, his understanding of music was simple but profound. “I always think that music does not have a language barrier. Music itself is language. It is the closest path to divinity. When you close your eyes and sing and experience the pain and beauty of the song, you experience God. even if you do I don’t know the form of god or music, “he had said when explaining his understanding of music. SPB, in its long career, has also given music to more than 40 films in various languages.
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