An Ode to Ajaatashatru

Ajaatashatru literally means one who does not have any nemesis. Indeed Dr. SPB was one who lived and passed on just like an Ajaatashatru. There had never been a single statement that spoke ill of him while he lived and none as he passed on recently on the 25th of September 2020.

Sripathi Panditharadhyula Balasubrahmanyam fondly known as SPB or SP irrespective of the circles, be it his professional circles, or his huge fan base that he garnered over the years was born on the 4th of November, 1946 in Konetampeta, Nellore District of Andhra Pradesh state back then belonging to Madras Presidency. Having born to a Harikatha Vidwaan, Sri Sripathi Panditharadhyula Sambamoorti, it seemed but natural to have been blessed with a golden voice. Although, SPB may not have been trained classically as a musician, it seems that he has always been the almighty’s favorite child when it came to music

As SPB grew up he sang along and at one occasion he had the fortune of meeting the most divine singer of Indian playback singing Srimati. S. Janaki and singing in her presence. It was around that time when SPB was in the first year of engineering. As suggested duly by Srimati Janaki, SPB met a few music directors of the time and in particular Sri S.P Kodandapani. Although, all the music directors praised SPB for his divine voice, they all suggested that SPB got himself a decent education before he ventured into playback singing. It seemed the right thing to do, thought SPB and went back promptly to education.

It never seemed that he had any less of an inspiration to continue singing while, the god of Playback singing considered the great Mohammed Rafi as his God of Playback singing. After almost two years of initial attempt towards playback singing, he was traced and found to sing in his first ever playback singing assignment by Sri S.P. Kodandapani for a Telugu Movie Sri “Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna”. Barely 8 days into his playback singing, he had been chosen to sing his first kannada song for the movie “Nakkare Ade Swarga” by a stalwart music director Sri M. Ranga Rao That was it and there was no looking back for SPB in the kannada Film Industry.

A singing stalwart of over 40,000 songs in 16 different languages to his name SPB was a darling of South Indian Film Industry. It seemed as though he was loved a little more in Karnataka and Kannada Film Industry as compared to the others. Duly, it is also a fact, that he has rendered a great quotient of his hits with the Kannda Music Directors like Sri Rajan-Nagendra Duo, Sri M. Ranga Rao and the likes till the recent music directors like the Sadhu Kokilas and Guru Kirans of the industry.

Be it the romance of “Yelliruve Manava kaaduva roopasiye” from the movie Bayalu Daari or the pathos “Premada Kadambari” from the movie Bandhana, SPB came alive in every song he sang. There are innumerable such movies and such songs that one can go on remembering that have led to their success just because of SPB’s golden voice. How can one forget the lullaby he sang for the Lord Srinivasa himself in the movie “Srinivasa Kalyana”?

SP, SPB or Balu as he was fondly called went on without looking back since 1966 recording and mixing sometimes 19 songs a day, sometimes 14 in multi languages and so on, there came a time when things changed for him. All who called him, SP, SPB or Balu started offering him respects and called him “Balugaru”. Thanks to his Magnum Opus works “Shankarabharanam”na directed by K. Vishwanathan and music composed by Shri. K.V. Mahadevan, it went on to become a run away hit during the times of pop and Jazz culture venturing into Indian Cinema, making SPB an international phenomena overnight. As SPB himself confessed on several occasions, he initially shied away from singing for Shankarabharam and it took mountain of an effort from the director to have SPB agree to sing. For the sole reason, SPB thought the a classically trained singer could do a better justice than him. As they say, rest is history, if one really could imagine Shankarabharanam in anyone else’s voice.

The man SPB had been blessed with an innate quality of making it sound so natural for any actor on the screen to look as if they sung themselves. The reason as quoted by himself that he could emote the best as compared to any other singers and that he was a natural actor himself. This had led to such a huge demand that many of the star actors from the south insisted, that the directors and producers obtain SPB’s call sheets even before their own. In fact, Dr. Vishnuvardhan, was one among pioneer actors to have signed a contract with the producers of the movies basis the date availability of Dr. SPB. So much that the first ever song of D Vishnu Vardhan “Haavina dwesha” from the movie Naagarahaavu and the last song “Garane Garagarane” from the movie Aapta Rakshaka was sung duly by SPB. Such contracts and demands were a common place with superstars like Rajanikanth, Kamal Hassan, etc. Such was the enigmatic magic of India’s one of the finest Playback singer.

Speaking of his acting skills, there are again an innumerable number of movies that he lit the screen in various roles from being a support artist, a character artist to a protagonist. It must also be noted that he has been the only Playback singer who has been sung by another great playback singer while on screen. The great thespian Dr. Rajkumar lent his voice to SPB while SPB enacted the central character in the kannada movie “Mudidna Maava”.

As SPB often mentioned, that he has been fortunate to be loved a little more in Karnataka as compared to other states and languages, and that if he has a re-birth, he would like to be born in Karnataka and as a kannadiga, this is an ode on behalf of the kannadigas to one of the finest playback singer this country has ever produced. Indeed, music knows no boundaries, neither does it know any languages, But SPB is an emotion that has touched every kannadiga and will remain so as long as the music is played ever.

It is unfortunate, that we unfortunates lost on many more years of Golden Voice,more so a great humanitarian as he was one such soul,that no ill was spoken about while he lived and when passed on. With the demise of his physical body “Baalu Saar” will continue to live on and on forever through his undying songs and voice till eternity. May he be blessed by the gods “Shataayuh Chiranjeevi” (100 years for an eternal being) and may his soul Rest in Peace.

!!Narayana. Narayana!!