S. P.

Balasubrahmanyam

Sripathi Panditaradhyula
Balasubrahmanyam (born 4 June 1946)
mostly referred to as S. P. B. or Balu is an
Indian playback singer, music director,
actor, dubbing artist and film producer
who works predominantly in Telugu, Tamil,
Kannada, Hindi and Malayalam.[5] He has
recorded over 40,000 songs in 16 Indian
languages.[6] He has garnered six National
Film Awards for Best Male Playback
Singer for his works in four different
languages; Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, and
Hindi; twenty five Andhra Pradesh state
Nandi Awards for his works towards
Telugu cinema, numerous other state
awards from Karnataka and Tamil
Nadu.[7][8] In addition, he garnered the
Bollywood Filmfare Award, and six
Filmfare Awards South.[9][10]
 S. P. Balasubrahmanyam

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam in 2013

Background information

Born 4 June 1946[1]

Nellore, Madras
Presidency, British India
[2][3][4]

Genres Playback singing[1]

Occupation(s) Singer, actor, music

director, film producer

Years active 1965–present

He is honored with the Guinness World
Record for recording the most film
scores.[1][11] In 2012, he received the state
NTR National Award for his contributions
to Indian cinema.[12] In 2016, he was
honored with the Indian Film Personality of
the Year consisting of a Silver Peacock
Medal.[13][14][15][16] He is a recipient of
civilian awards such as Padma Shri (2001)
and Padma Bhushan (2011) from the
Government of India.[17]

Early life and background

Balasubrahmanyam was born in
Konetampeta Chittoor Dist ( Now
Tiruvallur )Madras Presidency (currently in
Tami Nadu).[2][3][4] His father was a
Harikatha artist who had also acted in
plays.[18] His mother was Sakunthalamma,
who died on 4 February 2019.[19] He has
two brothers and five sisters, including
singer S.P. Sailaja.[20][21][22]

Balasubrahmanyam developed an interest

towards music at an early age, studied
notations and learned music. He enrolled
at JNTU College of Engineering Anantapur
with the intention of becoming an
engineer. He discontinued his studies
early, due to typhoid and joined as an
Associate Member of the Institution of
Engineers, Chennai.[6][23]

He continued to pursue music during his

engineering studies and won awards at
singing competitions. In 1964, he won the
first prize in a music competition for
amateur singers organised by the Madras-
based Telugu Cultural Organisation. 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).[24] He was
selected as the best singer in a singing
competition which was judged by S. P.
Kodandapani and Ghantasala.[25][26] Often
visiting music composers seeking
opportunities, his first audition song was
"Nilave Ennidam Nerungadhe". It was
rendered by veteran playback singer P. B.
Srinivas, who used to write and give him
multi-lingual verses in Telugu, Tamil, Hindi,
Kannada, Malayalam, Sanskrit, English and
Urdu.[27]

Personal life
Balasubramanyam is married to Savitri
and has two children, a daughter
Pallavi,[28][29] and a son S. P. B. Charan,
also a playback singer and film
producer.[30][31]

His mother Sakunthalamma died at the

age of 89 on February 4, 2019 in
Nellore.[19]

Career
1960s–1970

Balasubrahmanyam made his debut as a

playback singer on 15 December 1966
with Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna, a Telugu
film scored by his mentor, S. P.
Kodandapani.[32][33] The first Non-Telugu
song that he recorded just eight days after
his debut Telugu song was in Kannada in
1966 for the film Nakkare Ade Swarga,
starring Kannada comedy stalwart T. R.
Narasimharaju.[34][35] He recorded his first
Tamil song "Athaanodu ippadi irundhu
eththanai naalaachu" (duet with LR Eswari)
for famed music director MSV in the film
"Hotel Ramba", a film which never got
released. Unfortunately, there are no
surviving copies of this song. Other early
songs he sang were duets with PSusheela:
"Iyarkai Ennum Ilaya Kanni" in the 1969
film Shanti Nilayam, starring Gemini
Ganesh, and "Aayiram Nilavae Vaa" for
M.G.R in Adimaippenn.[36] His first song
with SJanaki was "Pournami Nilavil Pani
vizhum Iravil" in Kannippenn. He was then
introduced to the Malayalam film industry
by G. Devarajan in the film Kadalppalam.[37]

He has the rare distinction of rendering the

most songs on a single day by any singer.
He has recorded 21 songs in Kannada for
the composer Upendra Kumar in
Bangalore from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm on 8
February 1981 and 19 songs in Tamil, 16
songs in Hindi in a day which is a notable
achievement and a record.[5] He
established a prolific career. "There were
days when I used to record 15–20 songs,
but only for Anand-Milind. And I would
take the last flight back to Chennai."[38][39]
In the 1970s, he also worked with M. S.
Viswanathan in Tamil movies for actors
such as M. G. Ramachandran, Sivaji
Ganesan and Gemini Ganesan. He
recorded duets with P. Susheela, S. Janaki,
Vani Jayaram and L. R. Eswari.
Balasubrahmanyam's association with
Ilaiyaraaja began even before Ilaiyaraaja
came to the cine field. In those days, SPB
used to sing in towns and villages all over
south India and Ilaiyaraaja, then an
unknown harmonium and guitar player
accompanied SPB by playing in his
concerts.
International recognition: 1980s

Balasubrahmanyam pictured in 1985

Balasubrahmanyam came to international

prominence with the 1980 film
Sankarabharanam. The film is considered
to be one of the best films ever to emerge
from the Telugu film industry.[40][41]
Directed by K. Vishwanath, the film's
soundtrack was composed by K.V.
Mahadevan, and led to an increase in the
usage of Karnatak music in Telugu
cinema. Not a classically trained singer, he
used a "film music" aesthetic in recording
the songs.[42] Balasubrahmanyam received
his first National Film Award for Best Male
Playback Singer for his work. His first work
in Hindi films was in the following year, in
Ek Duuje Ke Liye (1981), for which he
received another National Film Award for
Best Male Playback Singer.[8]

Balasubrahmanyam began to record more

songs in Tamil, especially for Ilaiyaraaja
with S.Janaki, the trio considered to be
highly successful in the Tamil film industry
from the late 1970s and throughout the
1980s. The songs were based on classical
music, such as in Saagara Sangamam
(1983), for which both Ilaiayaraaja and
S.P.B won National Film Awards, Swathi
Muthyam (1986) and Rudraveena (1988)
which again won National Awards for
Ilaiyaraaja and Balasubrahmanyam.[43]

In 1989, Balasubrahmanyam was the

playback singer for Bollywood actor
Salman Khan in the blockbuster Maine
Pyar Kiya.[44] The soundtrack for the film
was very successful and he won a
Filmfare Award for Best Male Playback
Singer for the song Dil Deewana. For much
of the next decade, Balasubrahmanyam
continued as the "romantic singing voice"
on the soundtracks of Khan's films.[45]
Notable among these was Hum Aapke
Hain Koun..! which became the highest-
grossing Bollywood film of all time[46]
Balasubrahmanyam's duet with Lata
Mangeshkar, "Didi Tera Devar Deewana",
was very popular. This solidified
Balasubrahmanyam as one of the biggest
playback singers in India.[47] SP
Balasubrahmanyam became identified as
Salman Khan's voice in the 90s just like
Kishore Kumar became Rajesh Khanna’s
voice through the 70s.[48][49]
1990s

In the 1990s, he worked with composers

such as Vidyasagar, M. M. Keeravani, S. A.
Rajkumar and Deva among others, but his
association with A.R.Rahman turned out
be a major success.

Balasubramanyam's association with

Hamsalekha began after the latter's
successful venture Premaloka in Kannada.
Balasubramanyam sung the most songs
for Hamsalekha in Kannada. He received
his fourth National Film Award for Best
Male Playback Singer for the song
"Umandu Ghumandu" from the Kannada
film Ganayogi Panchakshari Gavayi (1995),
which was a Hindustani classical music-
based composition by Hamsalekha.[43]

Balasubrahmanyam recorded three songs

for A. R. Rahman in his debut film Roja. He
had a long-time association with Rahman
right from Roja, the latter's debut film.
Other popular songs include "July
Maadham" from Pudhiya Mugam, which
also marked the debut of singer Anupama,
"Mannoothu Manthayilae" from Kizhakku
Cheemayile, which was a folk number and
he almost sang all the songs in the
musical love story Duet, and sang "Thanga
Thaamarai" from Minsara Kanavu.
2000s–present

SPB on concerts-2014

In 2013, Balasubrahmanyam recorded the

popular title song for Chennai Express –
chaniii Chennai Express song, singing for
the lead actor Shahrukh Khan, under the
music direction of Vishal-Shekhar. He
returned to Bollywood music after being
away from it for 15 years.[50]
Voice actor

Balasubrahmanyam accidentally became

a dubbing artist with Kamal Haasan's film
Manmadha Leela, the dubbed Telugu
version of Manmadha Leelai.[51] He has
also provided voice-overs for various
artists, including Kamal Haasan,
Rajinikanth, Vishnuvardhan, Salman Khan,
K. Bhagyaraj, Mohan, Anil Kapoor, Girish
Karnad, Gemini Ganesan, Arjun Sarja,
Nagesh, Karthik, and Raghuvaran in
various languages. He was assigned as
the default dubbing artist for Kamal
Haasan in Telugu-dubbed versions of
Tamil films. For the Telugu version of
Dasavathaaram, he gave voice to seven
characters (including the female
character) out of ten characters played by
Kamal Haasan.[52] He was awarded the
Nandi Award for Best Male Dubbing Artist
for the films Annamayya and Sri Sai
Mahima.[53] He dubbed for Nandamuri
Balakrishna for the Tamil version of the
movie Sri Rama Rajyam in 2012.[54] He also
dubbed for Ben Kingsley in the Telugu-
dubbed version of Gandhi.[55]

Filmography

Awards and nominations

Television title songs
Azaghu - 2017
Kunkuma Bhagya - 2004

References
1. "Wish singersinguer SPB on his
birthday today" . The Times of India. 4
June 2013. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
2. "IndiaGlitz – Happy birthday to Balu –
Hollywood Movie News" .
3. "The Maestro Comes to Town" .
4. "Dr.S.P.Balu's News" .
5. "S P Balasubramaniam" . FilmiBeat.
6. Staff Reporter (11 June 2012). "Singer
S.P. Balasubrahmanyam honoured" .
 The Hindu. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
7. "SPB to be honoured" . Sify.com. 24
March 2009. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
8. "Entertainment Hyderabad / Events : In
honour of a legend" . The Hindu. 3
February 2006. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
9. "Pehla Pehla Pyar by S.P.
Balasubramaniam Songfacts" .
10. "Friday Review Hyderabad / Events :
The stars shimmered bright" . The
Hindu. 8 August 2008. Retrieved 1 May
2011.
11. "S.P. Balasubramanyam – The Man
Who Broke The Guiness Book Of
Records" .
12. Correspondent, Special (5 April 2017).
"S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, Hema Malini
bag NTR awards" . The Hindu.
13. "Who will be the Indian Film
Personality of the Year at IFFI 2017?" .
8 November 2017.
14. "Waheeda receives Indian Film
Personality of the Year award at IFFI" .
20 November 2013.
15. India, Press Trust of (20 November
2016). "SP Balasubrahmanyam
honoured with centenary award" .
Business Standard India – via
Business Standard.
16. "Have lost count of songs sung, says
record holder S.P.
Balasubrahmanyam" . 20 November
2016.
17. 26 January 2011 DC Correspondent
New Delhi (26 January 2011). "SPB
wins Padma Bhushan, no Bharat Ratna
this year" . Deccan Chronicle.
Retrieved 2 May 2011.
18. Suganthy Krishnamachari (26 August
2010). "Arts / Music : Motivating,
musically" . The Hindu. Retrieved
2 May 2011.
19. "SP Balasubrahmanyam loses his
mother - Times of India" . The Times
 of India.
20. "Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News :
S.P.Balasubramaniam shares
memories with music buffs" . The
Hindu. 5 December 2005. Retrieved
2 May 2011.
21. "Tamil Cinema news – Tamil Movies –
Cinema seithigal" .
22. "Rumours Rife on SPB Health" . 8
September 2017.
23. "SP.Balasubrahmanyam's 67th
Birthday" . 4 June 2013. Retrieved
22 July 2013. "Today, S.P.
Balasubrahmanyam is celebrating his
67th birthday. He was born on 4 June
 1946 into a Brahmin family in Nellore.
Balasubrahmanyam started singing
from a very young age. After dropping
out from an engineering program in
JNTU, SPB got his first break in 1966,
when he sang for Sri Sri Sri Maryada
Ramanna and he has sung over 40,000
songs. The State Government of AP
presented the Nandi Award to
Balasubrahmanyam 25 times. The
Govt. of India honoured him with a
Padma Bhushan award in 2011 and
also presented him with six National
Awards."
24. Dinathanthi, Nellai Edition, 11 August
2006, p. 11.
25. "SP Balasubrahmanyam" .
Artistopia.com. Retrieved 1 May 2011.
26. "S. P. Balasubramanyam – Photos and
All Basic Informations" .
Networkbase.info. Retrieved 1 May
2011.
27. "Arts / Music : An unsung genius" .
The Hindu. 23 September 2010.
Retrieved 12 June 2011.
28. "Unnai Charan Adainthaen" . The
Hindu. 19 September 2003. Retrieved
2 May 2011.
29. "Tamil Cinema news – Tamil Movies –
Cinema seithigal" .
30. "The cup of joy called friendship" . The
Hindu. 13 January 2004. Retrieved
2 May 2011.
31. "Metro Plus Madurai / Events : A
medley of sorts" . The Hindu. 26
November 2009. Retrieved 12 June
2011.
32. "Andhra Pradesh / Ongole News :
Telugu will thrive forever, says Balu" .
The Hindu. 14 April 2011. Retrieved
2 May 2011.
33. "Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News :
Raja-Lakshmi award for S.P.
Balasubrahmanyam" . The Hindu. 15
August 2006. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
34. "Of soulful strains" . Deccan Herald. 29
October 2011.
35. "S. P. Balasubrahmanyam – Wiki
Article" .
36. "Tamil Cinema news – Tamil Movies –
Cinema seithigal" .
37. "Metro Plus Kochi / Columns :
KADALPAALAM 1969" . The Hindu. 12
July 2010. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
38. Thakkar, Mehul S (24 May 2013).
"Salman's voice now belongs to Shah
Rukh" . Mumbai Mirror. Retrieved
22 July 2013.
39. T. Krithika Reddy (8 January 2010).
"Life & Style / Metroplus : Swinging
 sixties" . The Hindu. Retrieved 2 May
2011.
40. "Directorate of Film Festival" (PDF).
Iffi.nic.in. Retrieved 1 January 2013.
41. https://web.archive.org/web/2014042
9061825/http://www.aatapaatalu.net/
2011/04/spl-interview-with-edida-
nageswararao.html . Archived from
the original on 29 April 2014.
Retrieved 22 July 2013. Missing or
empty |title= (help)
42. Dalmia, edited by Vasudha; Sadana,
Rashmi (5 April 2012). The Cambridge
companion to modern Indian culture .
Cambridge: Cambridge University
 Press. p. 248. ISBN 978-0-521-73618-
3.
43. "Metro Plus Visakhapatnam / Music :
Balu live and lively" . The Hindu. 6
March 2010. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
44. Kadam, Prachi (25 February 2010). "I
knew Rahman as a toddler: SP
Balasubrahmanyam" . DNA India.
Retrieved 22 July 2013.
45. "HindustanTimes-Print" . Hindustan
Times. 26 April 2007. Retrieved
12 June 2011.
46. "The Biggest Blockbusters Ever in
Hindi Cinema" . Box Office India.
Archived from the original on 21
 October 2013. Retrieved 4 October
2012.
47. "The Beat" . The Beat. University of
California: Bongo Productions. 11: 71.
1992.
48. "B'day Jukebox: SP
Balasubrahmanyam Was Salman
Khan's 90s Voice" . The Quint. 4 June
2015.
49. "S P Balasubramanyam: The voice that
made Salman Khan sing - Nishad N" .
www.saddahaq.com.
50. "Balasubramaniam returns with
Chennai Express title track" . India
 Today. 23 May 2013. Retrieved 19 July
2013.
51. [email protected] (26 March
2009). "Chit chat with S. P.
Balasubramaniam – Andhravilas.com -
Telugu Cinema, Telugu Movies, India
News & World News, Bollywood,
Songs" . Andhravilas.com. Retrieved
2 May 2011.
52. Chit chat with S. P.
Balasubramaniam – Andhravilas.com -
Telugu Cinema, Telugu Movies, India
News & World News, Bollywood,
Songs : . Andhravilas.com (26 March
2009). Retrieved 7 January 2012.
53. "Telugu Cinema Etc – Idlebrain.com" .
54. "SPB and Chinmayi voice for
Balakrishna and Nayanthara in Sri
Rama Rajyam movie – Tamil Cinema
News – Latest News on Kollywood" .
55. "SPB, naturally" . The Hindu. 27 March
2009. Retrieved 4 April 2017.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media

related to S. P. Balasubrahmanyam.

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam on IMDb
Retrieved from
"https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?
title=S._P._Balasubrahmanyam&oldid=928373159"

Last edited 2 days ago by an anonymous user

Content is available under CC BY-SA 3.0 unless

otherwise noted.