Some sidelights from great singer’s life

Singer S P Balasubrahmanyam passed away at the age of 74 on 25th September 2020 in a Chennai hospital, after a 50-day battle with death. The thousands of songs that 'SPB' sang in as many as 16 languages have made him immortal. In his long singing career, Balu scaled scores of Himalayan heights,had millions of fans, and won many awards and titles. Few of us know that in his childhood and in later years of his life, SPB faced utter poverty and went through many ups and downs. Here are some anecdotes and sidelights about the versatile singer, musician, actor and producer.

When Balu was a child, his parents and friends used to call him by his pet name, "Mani". In those days Balu's father, Sambamurthy had earned a measly income as an exponent of "Harikatha". They had no radio at home and Balu used to go the house of his neighbours to listen to film music. The parents couldn't even buy new clothes for Balu for festivals. There were occasions when Balu came home crying from tuition classes as the teacher asked for the fee in the presence of all his friends.

As a teenager he couldn't afford to buy a badminton racquet and Balu waited for a long time till his father bought one by borrowing a small loan with great difficult! Like most boys of his age, Balu was fond of watching movies in theatres. Many times he borrowed money even from his barber, and his cobbler for going to movies and when he had no money, he used to listen to the songs, standing outside the talkies! This passion for movies and music made Balu a singer very early in life and he even conducted musical programs at marriages and the money earned so was shared among all the members of his music troop. When he joined the Arts College in Tirupati for P U C, Balu soon became a known name in local cultural organizations with his regular participation in them.

His defining moment came when in 1963 Balu was adjudged winner at a national level music competition held in Madras where the judges were none other than Ghantasala, musicians Pendyala and Dakshina Murthy. It was here that musician S P Kodandapani on his own went upto Balu and told him prophetically that he would sing for movies for forty years! After this, Balu met many leading music directors of the day, all appreciated Balu and his talent but none gave him an opportunity. It was S P Kodandapani who not only took Balu into his orchestra on a salary but also gave him his first break to sing in the movie, "Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna" in 1966. But the very first thing Kodandapani did in their first meeting in Madras was buying a pair of new clothes for Balu!

Illaiyaraaja was previously known as Rajaiah and he along with his two brothers met Bharathi Raja for opportunities. On the say-so of Raja,

Balu admitted the three brothers into his singing troop and they were in huge demand in those days. One day when Balu and his troop checked in a hotel for conducting a musical concert in Guntur, the organizer ditched them and vanished. However Balu conducted the overcrowded concert and with great difficult he squared up all bills by borrowing money from somebody!

Once Balu was to sing his first song for MGR. It was to be picturized on MGR and Jayalalitha in Jaipur. But a day before recording the song, Balu was down with typhoid. Balu's dreams of singing for a legend were all dashed. Weeks later, Balu was summoned to sing the same song. There Balu came to know that on learning about his illness, MGR postponed and rescheduled everything and waited patiently for Balu. Everybody appreciated the magnanimity of MGR towards a budding singer. With this song, Balu not only won the Tamil Nadu State Best Singer Award but also got opportunities to sing at least one song for MGR in his movies.

Once SPB sang a song for Supreme hero and singer Raj Kumar but Raj was not happy with the rendition and Balu was asked to sing the song again. After listening to the song in the Studio in the presence of Balu, Raj Kumar not only accepted the first version of the song but also said sorry to Balu for giving him the trouble of visiting the studio. Again at the personal request of Balu, Raj Kumar agreed to sing a couple of songs for Balu in a movie.

Balu missed out the opportunity to sing all the songs for ANR in the movie, Andala Ramudu, as he had to hold a concert in Singapore during that period. It was Balu's first concert abroad. When Balu went on to the stage to sing MGR's songs for his Tamil fans there, Balu realized that he had forgotten his Tamil songs book back in the hotel and that put the singer on jitters. Eventually the concert turned out to be a grand success and Balu and his troop returned home to a grand welcome.

Lata Mangeshkar had lots of affection for Balu and she treated him like her son. She took Balu along with her for programmes abroad. It went on for about 10 years and there were times when Lata cancelled her foreign tours as and when Balu couldn't not join her.

Balu had a great bond with Ramoji Rao. Rao also treated Balu with great love and concern. Every time Balu came to Hyderabad, Rao would send his car to airport to receive and drop him without fail. Once when Balu called Rao from airport for his car, Rao told him that since no driver was available that day he himself could come to airport. When Balu said no to that offer, Rao sent his son Kiran to airport.

On many occasions Balu spoke about the seminal influence of singer Mohammed Rafi on him as a singer and as a person.Balu maintained a strong and emotional bond with Rafi and his family till the end of his life. Though Balu owned many luxury and expensive cars, he felt proud of himself as the possessor of Rafi's fiat car!

For more sidelights about Balu's achievements, awards, affiliations, afflictions, read his authorized biography titled, "SPB--A MULTIFACETED MUSICAL LEGEND"

–M Somasekhar Prasad, Hyderabad