RMIM Archive Article "187".
From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian
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# RMIM Archives..
# Subject: SPB and National Award [Hindu Article]
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# Posted by: devm@netcom.com (Dev Mannemela)
# Source: The Hindu
# Copyright 1995 THE HINDU & PARALOGIC CORPORATION.
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# This article belongs to online "The Hindu" newspaper.
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# Please check the "The Hindu" html pages, at:
# http://www.webpage.com/hindu
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Rewarding foray into a different genre
S.P.Balasubrahmaniam
The Hindu
Date: 07-06-1996
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In a career spanning over three decades, this is the fifth time
that S. P. Balasubrahmanyam has bagged the National Award for the
best playback singer. His haul started with the semi-classical
movie, ``Sankarabharanam'' (Telugu) (1979), followed by ``Ek Duje
Ke Liye'' (Hindi) (1981), ``Sagara Sangamam'' (Telugu) (1983),
``Rudraveena'' (Telugu) (1988) and now for the Kannada movie
``Saagara Ganayogi Panchakshara Gavai'' (1995), based on the life
of the legendary Carnatic and Hindusthani music exponent. The
film, produced and directed by Chandodi Bangaresh, has musical
score by Hamsalekha, who incidentally won the best music director
award this year for the same movie.
For Balasubrahmanyam the award for the classical rendering of the
Hindustani song, ``Umandu Ghumandu Ghana Gar Je Badara'' is a
pleasant surprise as he is not proficient in that genre of music.
``I felt thrilled when I came to know about the award. Winning an
award always gives a wonderful feeling to an artiste. I am in
this field for the past 30 years and one more award rejuvenates
me to put more efforts into my singing.''
Of the two songs he rendered in the movie, Balasubrahmanyam found
the award winning piece a very difficult proposition. ``Its base
was Hindusthani classical which I do not know. When the proposal
came, I said I will not be able to sing the song. But music
director Hamsalekha insisted that I should. They took the track,
completed the movie and in the process waited for me for nearly
six months to render the song. I relented only after practising
the song, daily for an hour. Whenever I found time. Normally, I
finish rendering a song in about half an hour. But this
particular song took three and a half hours to record. I had to
undergo a lot of strain. But it was a rewarding experience. I
thank Hamsalekha and the director of the movie, Bangaresh, for so
patiently waiting for me,'' says Balasubrahmanyam.
The song was written and popularised by Ganayogi Panchakshara
Gavai, wo was born blind on February 2, 1892 at Kadashettihalli
in the Dharwad district of Karnataka. Gadigeyya was his original
name and the title Panchakshara Gavai was conferred on him by his
guru and mentor, Kumaraswamiji, of Hangal in 1908 after one of
his scintillating recitals. Later, he started a music school and
taught music to thousands of enthusiasts of which many were
blind. He provided free boarding and lodging facilities for them.
Many of his disciples, including his successor, Puttaraj Gavai,
won accolades. Pachakshara Gavai, who died on June 11, 1944 left
a rich legacy behind him Veereshwara Punyashramam, on the
outskirts of Gadag, where hundreds are trained in Hindusthani and
Carnatic music even today.
``Yes, the school is still serving many music enthusiasts. I feel
particularly happy that I could do justice to the great master's
work,'' says Balasubrahmanyam.
Balasubrahmanyam's tryst with Kannada cinema came much earlier in
his career. In fact, his second song for films was a duet for a
Kannada movie. ``Nakare Ade Swarga'' under the baton of music
director M. Ranga Rao. Since then from Raj Kumar to his son Shiv
Raj Kumar, for two generation of heroes, he has sung thousands of
lyrics in that language.
Does he find any difference between rendering a song for a
Kannada movie and one in other languages?
``The fundamentals are the same, only the rendering is slightly
different. But, in general, the melody content in the Kannada
songs is still intact. That is a great thing. Even in the
fastpaced songs, one finds a certain rhythm and melody in that
language. As for music director Hamsalekha, he has a unique
style. He did not attain it overnight. I know him for a long
time. He used to play mandolin for stage plays. He came up
gradually and today he has evolved his own style. Like Shankar-
Jaikishan's, one can easily identify his compositions by
listening to the tune. No doubt he is the numero uno music
director in Kannada. I am particularly happy that he too, has won
the best music director award for this film,'' says the veteran
singer.
The singer-music director duo have rendered service off the
screen too. In September last, Balasubrahmanyam and Hamsalekha
conducted a musical evening in aid of `Parivarthana', a trust for
promoting widow re-marriage at Bangalore and raised funds.
Balasubrahmanyam has won the hearts of Kannada cinegoers not only
as a singer but also as an actor. Starting his acting career in
Kannada films with the super hit ``Muddina Maava'' (remake of
``Mama Gaaru'' which itself was a remake of ``Nan Pudicha
Mappillai''), where he played the title role, he had acted in
``Mithileya Seetheyaru'' (which won the regional best film
award), ``Bolonda Chaduranga'' and ``Kalyanothsava''. He has also
signed for the lead role in Dwarakesh's ``Hryudaya Kallaru''.
``Acting is just to satisfy my inner urge as an artiste. Singing
is my passion,'' he says.
It is a rare achievement to be on top of South Indian film scene
for 30 long years and also to prove his prowess in Hindi cinema
too.His latest accomplishment in Hindi was his mellifluous
renderings for the all-time hit, ``Hum Aap Ke Hain Kaun''. A
contended man, down to earth and simple, Balasubrahmanyam says he
still has one disappointment.''
``I have won national awards for my classical and semi-classical
renderings and I am happy for that. But I still have an
unfulfilled wish. Though I have won the awards for songs in
Telugu, Hindi and Kannada movies, the award for Tamil in which
language I have sung innumerable songs, still eludes me. With the
impetus given by this award, I will work even more hard to
achieve this end'', says the singer who turns 50 this month.
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From the RMIM Article Archive maintained by Satish Subramanian