Vani Jayaram

At around 10:15 pm yesterday, I was about to go out when my mother called (I reside in a hostel). She said with good amount of excitement that Vani Jayaram was hosting a show on ETV and the show was going on then. My mother was excited because I like Vani mam very much and I have never seen her on TV before. I ran to the TV room. By the time I went there, the show came to an end. I just had a look at her and heard a little from her voice. Her divine voice reminded me some of my old memories.

Long Long back, me and my mother were listening to the song "Ennenno Janmala Bandham" from the movie Pooja (Telugu). I pointed out to my mother, the very different feel the female voice in the song had. My mother, a very big fan of Susheela (as a matter of fact I myself am), commented that the song would have been more beautiful with Susheela's voice. I could not agree with her as the voice I just heard was unlike any other I had heard before. It was when I heard the song "Aanatineeyara" from Swathi Kiranam (Telugu), I came to know about the legend Vani Jayaram. I later heard many other songs of Vani mam and obviously became her fan.

I wish she had sung more in Telugu.

See my earlier post on Vani Jayaram

http://musicandmyth.blogspot.com/2009/01/jayaram-vani-puthri.html

I saw this interview of Balu only recently. As usual he was very simple and modest.

Here is a bit of it.

Anuradha SenGupta: When you sing for Rajinikanth, or Kamal Hassan, I don’t think you are trying to sound like they are singing. Am I right?

SP Balasubrahmanyam: Most people think that I change my voice for actors that I sing for. But that is not right. You are absolutely correct. The style can be different. I just try to get the vibrancy of actors in my singing. When I sing a romantic number for Kamal, I try to get the style in my singing. I mostly sung for them. It also helped me to dub them properly.

My take on this: First of all, I feel that that was a very bad question asked by the interviewer. She should probably have asked him if he had tried to sound like them rather than "telling" him what she thought. I don't know well how he sang for Kamal or Rajini(as I don't know much about Tamil songs), but there are many instances where he sounded like the actor himself singing. He is being modest as usual.

You can watch/read the interview here.
http://ibnlive.in.com/news/being-balasubrahmanyam-the-perfectionist/68767-8.html

Sahasra Kantha Balasubramanyam III

There is no Telugu not knowing the movie Shankarabharanam. It was actually popular all over India. Songs from Shankarabharanam (esp. Shankaraa) show another dimension of voice modulation by SPB. Every music lover should listen to them.

There is one song I have always loved from my childhood. That's "Prathi Rathri" from Ekaveera. I didn't know the singer(s) at that time. Ghantasala and Balu together sang this master piece. I don't want to talk about the song at all. You yourself find the beauty.

http://www.chimatamusic.com/playcmd.php?plist=172

Another stunning performance by SPB's voice is Tallo Tamara(Tamil: Tangathamarai) from Merupu kalalu (Minsara Kanavu).

The song kadasaaridi veedkolu from Amrutha (Tamil: Kannathil Muttamithal) is not popular in AP, but all SPB lovers should listen to this. This song was sung by MSV in Tamil, not SPB. So even if you are a Tamizh, listen to it once.

Listen to the song "Ghallu Ghallu" from Swarna Kamalam and I am sure your ears will be full of pure nectar. His voice in this song is very pure, soft, soothing and many such things. There are many songs by him like this, but I somehow feel this is too good (probably because of the great composition as well).

Read Sahasra Kantha BalaSubramanyam II

The fame factor

When I was a kid, I used to think I should be as famous as Chiranjeevi, Chandra Babu Naidu and many others I knew about. As I grew up, My idols changed but my ambition only intensified. When I started discovering my interest for music, especially when I started discovering that much of the music I admired was by none other Ilayaraja (Believe me! I discovered him myself, I heard his name only a few times earlier but never heard anybody talking about him or his greatness. It is possibly because I was in that sort of environment all my boyhood). When I learnt that all the movies Sagara sangamam, Jagadeka Veerudu Athiloka Sundari, Geethanjali, Abhilasha and many other diverse movies had music by a single person, I was stunned. I kept on discovering more, more and many more unbelievable facts about that single person till date. Unfortunately, many of these unbelievable facts include things like no Padma award for him, existence of people who criticise him and compare him with others(most such people don't even know 10% of his music). I used to feel very bad for his work not being recognised as much as it should be.

I started wondering, if the man who revolutionized the Indian film music, who took it to another level, who inspired innumerable music directors, who completely dominated the Telugu, Tamil film music for decades, who could compose great music for more than 50 movies in a single year had not become all that popular, how would I be famous.

As an old quote says, I believed that an artist's full satisfaction comes with recognition for his work. I in fact believed more, I believed that an individual's full satisfaction comes with his recognition in the society. But it was when I learnt about Raja, his personality, his music, how immaterial fame is to him, I started to rethink about my beliefs.

Though I started feeling that fame is not all that important, I am not as saintly as Raja to think it is almost immaterial. When I become more mature and dedicate myself to something I love and live in my love, probably then I will start feeling like how he does. I would like to end this article by thanking Guru Ilayaraja for not only giving music sufficient for an entire lifetime but also for having in him many things to learn from.

PS: Even if you are a person who care for fame, don't worry. He is very famous among intellectual community. Also read what NAUSHAD ALI (Doyen of Hindi film music, India) said: Ilayaraja has achieved 100 times more than what any of us have achieved; only time can tell the quantum of his achievements.

Lord Shiva's songs in Telugu movies

There are many many great songs on Lord Shiva in our Telugu movies. On occasion of Shiva Rathri, I thought of listing some of them here.

1. Mahesa Papa Vinasa from Sree KalaHasti Mahatyam sung by none other than Ghantasala.

2. Deva Deva Dhavalachala Mandira from Bhukailas. Who else could have sung it so uniquely?

3. Neela kandhara deva from Bhukailas, again by Ghantaaswara Ghantasala.

4. Siva Siva Sankara from Bhakta Kannappa sung by Rama Krishna.

5. Sankaraa from Sankarabharanam by SPB with voice modulation as usual.

6. Om NamahSivaya from Saagara sangamam by S Janaki, deserves much more than national award.

7. Aanatineeyara from Swathi Kiranam sung by Vani Jayaram, no comments.

8. Om Shivoham from Nenu Devudini by Vijay Prakash. This is my first song of Vijay Prakash.

9. Namo Bhutanatha from Satya Harischandra, another song by Ghantasala .

10. Kanaraara Kailasa Nivasa from SeetaRama kalyanam.

11. Om Maha praana deepam from Sree Manjunatha sung by Shankar Mahadevan.

12. Om Namahsivaya from Paramanandayya Sishyula katha.

A Great Achievement of Indian Music by A R Rahman

I am really excited as our beloved Rahman won two oscars, one for his original score in Slumdog and another along with Gulzar for the song "Jai Ho".




Congratulations Rahman for making our and your music popular. I wish you achieve a lot more in future.

Mano on Ilayaraja n Rahman

Singer Mano talked very sound about his Guru Ilayaraja and well-wisher Rahman. He said,"To talk about Ilayaraja is like a discourse on God. It was he who game me a career as a singer. To see him is a gift. To sing a song under him is a boon. He is the fastest musical mind I have ever seen in my life. He himself is a treasure of instruments. He can compose native and original tune in just 20 minutes. I challenge, no one can compete with him, even today. He is the best and no.1 in the area of background music too. "

He talked great of Rahman, who gave him new life as a singer. Mano, who was long considered as a carbon copy of SPB, got unique recognision and fame with Muqala from Premikudu (Kadhalan). He said," Rahman has his own strategy and power to create magic tunes. For the song Muqala Muqabula, Rahman asked me to do something different by changing my voice. He wanted a little variety and he said you can do something that will make people sit up and ask who the singer is.''

"I mimicked a few voices and he liked the duplication of R. D. Burman. He asked me to continue to sing in the same voice. When I was recording something told me the song was going to be a hit the beat, the sound and rhythm. I rendered that song in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. It has given me new life. If in a year a playback singer gets the opportunity to sing three or four songs like this, he can stay in the hearts and minds of the people. I am truly grateful to Rahman.''
He followed with hits like Thillana from Muthu, and Azhagiya Lailaa from Ullathai Alli Tha.