S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, SPB, lovingly hailed as Paadum Nila (singing moon) by Tamil fans, passed away today after a nearly 50-day fight against COVID-19.
Forty thousand songs, 16 languages, astonishing trivia, yet a mere fragment of the SPB story.
Legendary for his evocative, masterly playback singing in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi movies, SPB’s voice had a timeless, melodic quality that remained untouched, untarnished with age. He was also a music composer, dubbing artist and occasional actor.
At 74, his baritone melodic voice carefully preserved and intact, SPB’s demise ends a superlative era in playback singing when melody was king and singing was an exclusive art, attainable for those who had the talent, perseverance and humility to continuously hone their skills.
Early stardom
Sankarabharanam (1980), (The Jewel of Shiva), an iconic National Award winning Telugu musical featuring a fictional Indian classical singer’s life journey became a cult hit across south India. My first contact with SPB’s genius was this often played audio cassette soundtrack at home.
Despite not knowing a word of Telugu, the songs gets through to me each time, for the carnatic improvisations and pure SPB gold, though the musical interludes now sound rusty.
How SPB modulated his voice to sound like an elderly actor and character, is pure genius. I was barely ten when I first heard these recordings. There is a point in the soundtrack and movie, when the character’s singing is interrupted by coughing, which in a movie of the eighties mostly signified a terminal disease. SPB didn’t formally train in classical singing, which makes the masterly Sankarabharanam classical intonations even more astonishing.
Many melodramatic movie situations involved fatal coughing in the eighties. Often formulaic love triangles were brought to abrupt end credits with coughing fits or redirected bullet trajectories to do off with a love interest. Not before lengthy dying declarations though. Groan.
Popular, melodic Hindi hits
Diehard Hindi film music lovers, many unaware of SPB’s incredible ‘down south’ filmography, will particularly recall the R.D. Burman-composed SPB songs for Saagar (1985), the melancholic Sach Mere Yaar Hai, the upbeat duet with Kishore Kumar Yuh Hi Gaate Raho and O Maria, the lovely, teasing wedding duet with Asha Bhosle.
Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981) was SPB’s Hindi breakthrough, the blockbuster movie featuring the playful elevator hit Mere Jeevan Saathi and the lovely Tere Mere Beech Mein, despite Laxmikant–Pyarelal’s largely formulaic music, the songs were a rage.
Special mentions include the rarely mentioned A.R. Rahman duet with K.S. Chitra Thoda Thoda Pyar Ho Gaya for Priyanka (1994), the dubbed version of the Tamil drama Indira.
The Raam-Laxman composed songs of Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) and Hum Aapke Hai Koun (1994) achieved mega-cult status, though the compositions sound partly jaded now, both films feature SPB’s best known Hindi songs.
The love duet with Asha Bhosle, Yeh Raat Aur Yeh Doori for the now iconic comedy Andaz Apna Apna (1994), composed by Tushar Bhatia is another highlight. Hum Na Samjhe The for Gardish (1993), another notable R.D. Burman collaboration.
End note
The best of SPB songs comprised of his impeccable understanding of movie situations, characters, moods and textures, showcased in Tamil songs composed by Ilayaraja, A.R. Rahman and other notable composers.
There is no end to the treasure house of SPB with the above-mentioned two maestros, unforgettable ARR soundtracks featuring the legendary voice include Roja (1992), Gentleman (1993), Pudhiya Mugam (1993) Duet (1994), May Maadham (1994), Muthu (1995), Jodi (1999), Kadhalar Dhinam (1999), En Swasa Kaatre (1999), Thenali (2000) and Sivaji: The Boss (2007).
SPB’s demise has sent me on a journey of rediscovering his discography, and I find that he didn’t get his due in Hindi film songs, but more than made it up with his exemplary work in regional language songs.
The exceptional singing legacy of SPB lives on, and in these autotuned times, there won’t be another of his professional caliber and magic for a long time.
So long SPB.
Irreplaceable
Yes, truly
He will forever love through his music. Not a day goes by without his songs! RIP LEGEND!
Yes, I think people here are still realizing how big a loss it is!