Hyderabad: As legendary singer SP Balasubrahmanyam breathed his last, he left behind a void in the music industry that will never be filled.
Balasubrahmanyam, who had given innumerable hits in 15 languages including Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada among others, surprisingly had absolutely no formal training in Carnatic music. However, he had such a good ear for it that the absence of any classical training was no hindrance. He used to feel that not knowing classical music came as "blessing in disguise" as had he learnt it, he would have not sung light music (songs) well.
Born as Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam at Konetammapeta, now in Andhra Pradesh's Nellore district on June 4, 1946, he was introduced to the art by his father, who was a Harikatha Vidwan (narrator of religious tales) who sang religious folk songs in the village square for a living.
He later enrolled at JNTU, Anantapur to pursue engineering, but quit the course. He then joined the Chennai Institution of Engineers and started participating in music competitions. In one such competition in 1963, Balasubrahmanyam performed a song which he himself had written, composed, and sung. He stunned everyone present at the competition, being adjudged the best even before the song was finished.
The competition was judged by SP Kodandapani, who went on to become his mentor.
There, he stunned everyone with his voice and won a competition, which was judged by SP Kodanadapani.
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He was the leader of a light music troupe composed of Anirutta (on the harmonium), Ilaiyaraaja (on guitar and later on harmonium), Baskar (on percussion), and Gangai Amaran (on guitar)
Balasubramaniam got his first break in the 1966 Telugu film 'Sri Sri Sri Maryaada Raamanna' which was scored by his mentor SP Kodandapani.
He recorded his first Tamil song "Eyarkai ennum illaya kanni" in the 1969 film Shanthi Nilaiyam starring Gemini Ganesan.
However, Balasubrahmanyam's big break in the Tamil film industry came in 1969, when MG Ramachandran asked noted music director KV Mahadevan to try him out in Adimai Penn. His first song was an instant hit, and Balasubramaniam had officially arrived. In doing so, he virtually dethroned TM Soundarajan and almost toppled Ghantasala from the number one slot in Telugu films. He then soon debuted in Kannada, Tamil, and Malayalam film industry.
Eventually, when he sang Tere mere beech mein in K. Balachander's 1980 Bollywood superhit Ek Duje Ke Liye, he instantly touched the heartstrings of every lover in the country. Ten years later, his golden voice crooning Maine Pyar Kiya turned it into one of the biggest hits of Indian celluloid and won him the 1990 Filmfare Award. While Ek Duje Ke Liye was his breakthrough into Hindi films and Bollywood, Maine Pyar Kiya was abundant proof that he could succeed on a mega-level in Hindi movies.
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SP Balasubrahmanyam is one of the rare singers who has won six National Awards - for his work in four different Indian languages. While he won three National Awards in Telugu, he won one each in Tamil, Hindi, and Kannada.
The singer had also set a Guinness record for singing the highest number of songs in his lifetime - at an average of 930 songs per year or nearly three songs per day. He has sung over 40,000 songs, which is an almost unbeatable record.
Further, he also holds the record for the highest number of songs in a day. He had recorded 21 songs in 12 hours for Kannada composer Upendra Kumar. He had also recorded 19 Tamil songs in a day and 16 songs in a day in Hindi.
He was also the music director for 46 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi.
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Needless to say, it was his utmost dedication and extremely gruelling work schedule that paved the way for his success. Balasubrahmanyam followed a punishing schedule that would exhaust many-a-younger mortal. He used to record from seven to nine in the morning, then proceeded to shoot from nine to six with an hour's break in-between and then dashes back for another recording session from six to 10 in the night.
Apart from singing, SP Balasubrahmanyam was also seen in supporting roles in films. Since he was fluent in all South Indian languages, he acted in over 70 films. He also worked as a dubbing artist, lending his voice to artists like Rajinikanth, Kamal Hassan, Salman Khan, Mohan, Girish Karnad, Gemini Ganesan, Karthik, and Raghuvaran.
