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. 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. 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). The big news: Kerala reports more than 54,000 Covid cases, and nine other top stories.Modi government may try to Budget its way out of economic distress and election woes.Student protests: Coaching centre tutor ‘Khan Sir’ explains the mathematics causing the anger.Experiments to bring pigs back to ‘life’ show why immortality for humans isn’t a great idea.Five takeaways from Kapil Sharma’s stand-up special ‘I’m Not Done Yet’.‘Welcome aboard this historic flight’: Pilot on first flight after Tata Group takes over Air India.How Kashmir’s half-widows are denied their basic property rights.BJP, Bajrang Dal workers protest against ‘renaming’ of sports complex after Tipu Sultan in Mumbai.In this explosive fantasy by Saeed Naqvi, India is confronted with the disappearance of its Muslims.Indian family found dead near US-Canada border identified.‘Gehraiyaan’ takes a fresh look at monogamy, says director Shakun Batra.Watch: Another view of viral u-turn video shows it was skilful but not as dangerous as it looked.
0 kommentar(er)
