SPB didn’t train in classical singing, although he did show interest in learning instruments. SPB’s father was an exponent of harikatha, the tradition of narrating songs and stories about the gods. Born on June 4, 1946, in Konetampet in the unified Madras Presidency, his family had Telugu origins. His entry into playback singing was accidental. It was this generational shift that SPB embodied. Screen heroes slowly turned back into mortals, and the film music industry shifted from theatrical numbers to subdued, low-octave melodies. The subtlety of PB Sreenivas and AM Rajah was considered a lesser art.Ĭhange came in the late ‘60s and early ’70s, when directors such as K Balachander filmed the drama of family life and the nuances of social engagement. The high-pitched singing of TM Soundararajan, Sirgazhi Govindarajan and KV Mahadevan was the norm.
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MG Ramachandran, Sivaji Ganesan and NT Rama Rao, all with foundations in theatre, donned these epic roles, and singers who lent their voices to these characters had to match their theatrics.
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Cinema was the medium that created the Dravidian superhero through a thematic insistence on valour and ethnic pride. In the preceding decades, epics and myths were used to bolster the prevalent political discourse. But as in sports, mere numbers do not make a great artist.īalasubrahmanyam emerged on the scene in the late 1960s, when South Indian films were going through an epochal change in direction. Where will history place SPB, as he is known, in the pantheon of great singers? His sheer longevity, perhaps matched only by the other south Indian stalwart KJ Yesudas, sets him apart from most. He has sung over 40,000 tracks in his mother tongue Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. In 2015, it was the singer’s partner in his musical journey, Ilaiyaraaja, who received the award.īalasubrahmanyam’s songs are part of the collective experience of film fans across southern India. In December 2016, SP Balasubrahmanyam completes half a century of playback singing – the equivalent of cricketer Sachin Tendulkar if we take into account the magnificence of the consistency in this longevity.īalasubrahmanyam will also be honoured with the Centenary Award for Indian Film Personality of the Year at the International Film Festival of India (November 20-28). Ex-CJI Venkatachalaiah’s prescription for India: ‘The cure for ills of democracy is more democracy’.BJP leader threatens to stop Munawar Faruqui’s show in Hyderabad.Gardens in India have surprisingly ancient and sprawling roots.Best of 2021 soundtracks: Santhosh Narayanan, Anirudh Ravichander and Sachin-Jigar shine.Hindutva group disrupts Christmas celebrations in a school in Karnataka.On Christmas, an Indian atheist’s prayer for the people of strife-torn Lalibela in Ethiopia.‘Your English in Marathi accent is so sexy’: The popular video trend continues with a new version.The big news: Hindutva groups disrupt Christmas events in two states, and nine other top stories.Ranjan Gogoi’s autobiography lays out a defence of his controversial tenure but fails to convince.Watch: Rashtriya Bajrang Dal workers chant ‘Death to Santa Claus,’ then burn effigy, in Agra.Gurugram: Hindutva supporters disrupt Christmas prayers in school, shout ‘Jai Shri Ram’.Sex in marriage: In libertarian societies, forcing anyone into sex is wrong, no matter why.