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Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Ennodu Paattu Paadungal - Episode dated 05.05.2007

Dear SPB Fans,

I am glad to bring to you one of the previous episodes -EPP-05.05.07 (16th episode) (courtesy : Covai Ravee for the audio file links). Please excuse for the long delay in posting. All pending episodes will be posted shortly so that we are current on this.

This episode was a continuation of the episode dated 28.04.07 with the same set of 6 contestants.
The chief judge for the previous episode was veena player Parthasarathy lovingly called as "Baatcha" by our SPB and he also continued his presence for this concluding episode of the contest.

Details of the program as follows :

Our SPB welcomed everyone.

Kural for the Episode :

(Kural No.1040)

இலமென்று அசைஇ இருப்பாரைக் காணின்

நிலமென்னும் நல்லாள் நகும்.

Fair good earth will laugh to see

Idlers pleading poverty

Our SPB explains it as follows : Should one search for something when he has it in his own hands, asks ThiruvaLLuvar. Having lands at hand and strength in the body, can one claim that he does not have any wealth, will not the Mother of the Earth laugh. What resource we do not have in our own country that we have to look for to other countries asks Kavignar Marudhagasi in line with ThiruvaLLuvar. Having good land resource at hand and being idle and then lamenting that one does not have anything, will one get food?. Do not be idle & lazy and then lament later, tells VaLLuvar. What a great saying. No one should be lazy. What we have and what we do not, is dependent on our own selves. If we have the will and strength in our body then we can do anything. This is what the KuraL brings out.

First Round of this Episode (second round of the contest):

As detailed in the previous posts, this round features fast paced or peppy or rhythm-oriented numbers chosen by the contestants themselves.

The list of songs of this round were,
1) Malar endra mugam...... from kaadhalikka nEramillai (L.R.Eswari)
The contestant was Viji Narayanan. Before the song, our SPB said some good words about the original singer L.R.Eswari. He said that she was like phosphorous & dynamite because one gets immediately ignited on seeing her. Such a vibrant singer she was, he said. On hearing the contestant's song, SPB was immediately impressed and said that he enjoyed it more for her body langauge apart from her singing. He said the piano bits in this song reminded him of Joseph Krishna the permanent pianist of music director M.S.Viswanathan troupe who was also an excellent violinist. He finally thanked the contestant for presenting a beautiful song

2) aadavaralaam.... from karuppu panam (L.R.Eswari)
Vidyalakshmi sang this song. SPB said that hearing this song reminded one of the Blues of the 60s. Without discarding this type of music as alien & foreign, but adapting it for our Tamil music is an important thing which M.S.Viswanathan had done. He also praised the chorus portion of this song. He also sang out the rhythm of a part of the song and asked the chief guest Baatcha how was it possible to make such improvisations without changing sruthi that too on the veena. Baatcha replied that normally one followed the traditional "sa pa sa" format while playing veena but while playing for film music one will not be in a position to frequently change the sruthi by tuning method and hence he said he had improvised by alternating between scales in the same tuning to achieve the effect of different sruthis. He said this was made possible by the encouragment he recieved from the renowned flutist Gunasingh. Our SPB also praised the flutist Gunasingh that he was one who could play different sruthis on the same flute. It was such that one could tune the tambura based on his flute play. He also said that he had played the flute on many occasions for his won music composition. Regarding the contestant's performance, he mentioned that her performance was far improved from the previous round and advised that she should show more energy in singing.


3) singaari sarakku...... from kakhi sattai (SPB)
Kedharnath rendered this song. Our SPB vey much enjoyed the presentation of this song by the contestant. He was in splits laughing it out heartily on hearing the energetic reproduction of the song by the contestant and he also commented that he had lost energy hearing the song. He said that for such a situation, nowadays, one would introduce a ghana song wherein one would not find much of variations whereas Kavignar Vaali the lyricist had written wonderful lyrics by even bringing out in his lyrics the method of liquor preparation. He was also in awe of actor Kamalahaasan for the way he had acted in the song. SPB said that he wondered whether he had sung the song after Kamal had acted for the song. Such was the feel with which Kamal had acted, he said. He then jokingly played around with the word "spirit" which conveyed dual meaning, by telling the contestant that he had sung with great spirit.

4) aathaadi ammaadi.... from idhayathai thirudathe (Chitra)
Bhargavi Sridhar rendered this. He praised ILayaRaja's composition for this song. He congratulated the contestant for a good performance. He pointed out that the contestant had sung at her own comfortable sruthi as against the original higher sruthi.

5) suttum vizhi sudarE.... from Gajini (Sriram Parthasarathy)
Pranesh sang this song. Before the song, SPB confirmed with Baatcha if the original singer Sriram was his son. About the song, he said that it was a rhythm based song and would fall in the category for this round. He praised the contestant by saying that the best thing (which was also agreed by Baatcha) about the contestant was that his song selection matched his soft voice and singing style. He mentioned that a song like "singaari sarakku" would not have suited him. Choosing a suitable song reflected the intelligence of a singer, he said. He then talked about the different singing styles of Rafi & Mukesh by singing a few lines of a Hindi song in both their styles and concluded that a music director selected a singer according to the nature of the song.

6) palinginaal oru maaligai........ from vallavan oruvan (L.R.Eswari)
Subashree sang this song. He acknowledged the good performance of the contestant and then complimented her for her beautiful smile.


Final Round of the contest :
This round featured songs which the contestants had to identify from the tune/rhythm pattern rendered by our SPB which was from a collection of songs submitted by the contestant during audition. He mentioned that till this 16th episode, everyone had unfailingly identified the songs from the tunes he had voiced out and complimented all for being knowledgeable about the songs. He also made known to the contestants once again that the score for this round was based not only on identification of the song but also rendering & presenting the song well. The songs under this category were

1) nilavE mugam kaattu.... from ejamaan (contestant : Viji Narayanan): Our SPB sang out a piece of the background score and asked the contestant to sing the charanam in her own comfortable sruthi after identifying the song . The contestant identified the song. Our SPB also sang along with the contestant who must have floating high singing with him. This composition, he said, was comparable to any good ghazal. He appreciated the contestant abundantly saying that she had reproduced both the male & female singers emotion in the song and presented it well. He sang out a few lines of the song as well. He then jovially asked her to get away from the dias to her seat having fulfilled her role aptly.

2) iyarkaiyennum ilayakanni..... from santhi nilayam (contestant : Vidyalakshmi) : Prior to voicing the tune for recognition, our SPB said that this song had an interesting affair with his life. The contestant recognised the song correctly. He then queried the contestant if she was able to find out the nature of affair the song had with him. The contestant duly replied that it was his first Tamil song. He said that he had sung the tune wrongly but still the contestant had identified it correctly.

3) angum ingum paadhai....from avargal (contestant : Kedharnath): Our SPB joined the contestant in singing towards the end of the song. Our Great then talked about the wonderful lyrics of Kannadaasan for this song which clearly presents the situation of the song very well through words. He also spoke about the wonderful tune. He then sang out the tune of the song once again saying that while recording he used to wonder how to present it well but had done so based on the encouragement from the music director M.S.Viswanathan

4) july maadham vandhaal.... (contestant : Bhargavi Sridhar) : Our Legend educated the contestant on proper diction of one of the words in the song "naaNum" which the contestant had pronounced as "naanum".

5) namma ooru singaari .... from ninaiththalE inikkum (contestant : Pranesh) : SPB announced to the contestant that he had intentionally selected this song to see how he would present it. In earlier rounds the contestant had chosen his own comfortable song. He concluded that this style of song did not suit the contestant. He said that the singing style for this song was entirely different from what the contestant had presented. He then sang out a few lines of the pallavi himself with lot of vibrations in the voice to show to the contestant how it should be sung. He said he loved all the songs in the film and said that each one was good in its own way. He finally told the contestant that he had sung the song subject to his limitations.

6) muthumani maala...... (contestant : Subashree): Our Great sang along with the contestant in the pallavi portion of the song. He said the performance was OK. However, he said that initially she had a problem with the sruthi but that she had made it up later in the song. He sang out the related portion of the song in order to explain to the contestant.

He appreciated all the contestants for their extraordinary IQ as they had identified all the songs based on the limited tune that he had voiced. He said that this was not a normal thing.

The competition came to end wih this round. All the three - our SPB, the chief judge "Baatcha" Parthasarathy and ManoBala came on to the stage. Our SPB thanked the chief judge for having participated in the program . He mentioned that 4 of the contestants were good and that it was a difficult preposition to select one from them. He also appreciated the contestants for their efforts in coming over to the studios twice inspite of their busy exam schedules and also for having come from places like Mumbai and Meerut in the case of two contestants. He thanked the parents, their gurus and everyone behind their effort. He then asked "Baatcha" Parthasarathy to bless all the contestants with a few words. Baatcha felt that all the contestants had enthusiastically practised and sung well and that all of them were very good. But he said that on technical grounds only one of them could be selected. This did not mean that the other were lesser. It only needed a bit of more effort to come to that level, he said. He then wished them all the best in their life.

Our SPB thanked Baatcha for saying nice and sweet things and then presented a small memento to him on behalf of the organisors. Then our SPB delivered his message for the episode.

Message from our SPB :
The message for this episode was "lot of IT and software companies buildings and Super markets have come up. There are lot of good shops to purchase anything. But everybody is forgetting the handicapped people. If one comes in a wheel chair to such establishments, it becomes diffcult for them. Even boarding buses is difficult for them. So, buses, public places including cinema halls should have ramps which are a must. Lof this things are not taken care during construction of buildings. Fire safety is not ensured. Lot of fire accidents take place. Rules and regulations are not followed. When there is fire, people get caught and die. All this is due to lack of safety precautions not being taken. Leaving alone this, there are lot of handicapped people who face difficulties at shops and on buses. So, i request all builders and constuctors to take these handicapped people, who form an appreciable count, into consideration during design of buildings and give them comforts"

Announcement of the Contest Winner :

ManoBala, the permanent judge, announced the scores as follows :(based on shruthi, thaalam, bhaavam & performance)

Subashree : 190, Pranesh : 173, Bhargavi Sridhar : 198, Kedharnath: 205, Vidyalakshmi: 215, Viji Narayanan : 235

ManoBala announced Viji Narayanan as the Winner based on the highest score of 235 that she had scored. ManoBala then asked the winner about her feelings having won the contest and thereby earning a chance to sing with SPB. SPB then humbly asked the contestant whether he should sing with her and then asked her further whether she will sing with him. The contestant earnestly asked one of them to pinch her to see if all this was real. She said that ever since he had come she could not believe herself that she was singing in front of him. Our SPB immediately reacted comically making gestures that it was him, it was really him. Everyone including the audience had a hearty laugh at that. Viji said that it was such a wonderful experience. She then said that she had never thought this would happen and when it happens all that she wanted to do was fall at his feet and get his blessings. Jaya TV had given a wonderful opportunity, she said and that she was able to perform in front of him to his expectations. Our SPB chipped in saying that she was capable of performing better than this. She then thanked her parents for having faith in her and for taking efforts to ensure her participation in the programme and also facing lot of tensions to see her perform and win the contest. Her mother had been her Guru. Our SPB finally said to her that she had lot of further rounds to face and that she had to come all the way from Mumbai.

SPB song :
Viji Narayanan then joined our SPB to sing the song "thoda thoda malardhadhenna....." from "Indira" thus accomplishing a life time dream. She indeed combined well with the Legend to come out with a good performance. Our SPB ended the song in his usual style singing some lines from the Hindi version of this song.

The next episode after this was on 12.05.07 with a fresh set of 6 contestants and a new chief guest/judge. Please wait for the posting on the next episode (episode no. 17)



Monday, May 28, 2007

Ennodu Paattu Paadungal - Episode dated 28.04.2007

Dear SPB Fans,

I am glad to bring to you all one of the previous pending episodes (Episode No.15)-EPP-28.04.07 (courtesy : Covai Ravee for the audio file links).


This episode started off with a fresh set of 6 contestants who will continue in the next episode also.

Details of this episode as follows :

Kural for the Episode :

(KuraL no.963)

பெருக்கத்து வேண்டும் பணிதல் சிறிய
சுருக்கத்து வேண்டும் உயர்வு.

Be humble in prosperity
In decline uphold dignity.
Our SPB explains this as follows : For some, receipt of wealth changes their personality. They will fly high. They behave in such a fashion that they start wearing cooling glasses in the night, they will take bath only in mineral water. Thiruvalluvar has written this KuraL only for people like these. He says "be humble in prosperity", even the intoxication due to fame is difficult to handle. To overcome it one should be humble. Only then when we face decline we will be able to stand with our head held high.

Introduction of the Chief Guest / Judge by SPB:
Our SPB said "Everyone would remember the Superstar Rajini when you hear my song "Baadsha paaru...". But the Baatcha that we are going to see now is different. He started playing the veena in his school days itself. Having started off with famed & yesteryear music directors namely Ranga Rao, Rajeswara Rao, Adi Narayana Rao, then continuing through the generations of K.V.Mahadevan, M.S.Viswanathan, ILayaRaja, he is still playing for A.R.Rehman & Yuvan Shankar Raja. He has played for nearly 400 films for ILayaRaja alone. Ever since the South Indian films moved away from Silent to Talkies, he must have been the man who has played the veena the most for film music. Recently he has composed music for a Malayalam film. His father is Mr.Raghavan, the veena vidwan for very old movies. He (Baatcha) has played the veena for all the Shankarabharanam songs and it is my fortune. His son is Sriram Parthasarathy an upcoming singer. His daughter is Sindhuja who is also an upcoming singer. So, i welcome the man who is the head of a family which has been serving the music field for three generations, as the chief judge of the show. He is none other than Parthasarathy, the veena exponent whom we lovingly call as "Baatcha".

Mr.Parthasarathy comes on to the dias and our SPB embraces him lovingly and kisses him affectionately on the forehead and expresses his thanks for having come over.

First Round of the Contest :
Before starting off the contest, our SPB expressed his thanks regarding the show. He said "Many such programs are being aired on many channels. The objective of this program is to give a good platform to prospective singers combined with the useful messages that the senior musicians who appear as chief judge provide to the contestants. Also making known the things that go behind the scenes during the recording of a song. Also sharing whatever we have learnt with these contestants. These have been our objective. There might have been small mistakes here and there but lessons have been learnt and improvements made and it is going on well. We are receiving the blessings of many. In fact a few renowned magazines and newspaers have written very positively about this program. I express my thanks to all on behalf of the entire team. We are very grateful to you. Your words in a very deep way will support us. The magazine Thuglak had come with an article on this program and also Sujatha Sir had written in the Anandha Vikatan. All these are blessings and it is due not only to me but also to the entire team and the contestants too. We are very grateful to the media which is giving an excellent coverage. Thank You very much"

The list of songs of this contest were,
1) kaatril varum geethamE...... from oru naal oru kanavu (many voices)
The contestant was Vijayalakshmi from Mumbai. Before the contestant started off on her song, she introduced herself by telling her parents' names first. This impressed our SPB a lot and he appreciated her for that. He also expressed happiness that she had come all the way from Mumbai to participate in the program. After the song, our SPB appreciated Kavignar Vaali for presenting many nuances of music in his lyrics of the song. He also mentioned about ILayaRaja's speciality in selecting the right lyricist and singers for a song. He also felt that when a trained singer presents a song it shows up. He said that this song could not be rendered just listening a few times but needed an indepth understanding of the song. He appreciated the contestant for having presented the song very well and also her expressions while singing . He then turned to the chief judge "Baatcha" and asked him why is that the raagam Kalyani sounds different in ILayaRaja's composition. Baatcha's reply was that any raaga volunteered an indepth self analysis. While most music directors just used the "copy & paste" method (of other creators) , ILayaRaja being a great genius researched and brought it out in his own way. That made the difference, he said.

2) puththam pudhu Olai varum.... from vedham pudhidhu (Chitra)
Vidyalakshmi rendered this song. This song also being in Kayani raagam as highlighted by our Great, he was happy to hear one more in the same raaga. He appreciated the contestant for her rendition and mentioned that all parameters were fine. However, he advised her to present the song better by doing away with the tension and singng it in a relaxed manner and smiling. In order to ease the tension for the contestant, he also said that eventhough he himself along with the judges were in the decision making seats, they still were students learning all the time from others and maybe from the contestants themselves. This really shows the humbleness of our Great. SPB asked the "Baatcha" for his comments and he also voiced the same thing advising the contestant to sing the song in a relaxed and jolly manner. He too appreciated the contestant for singing well.

3) en kaadhale ...... from Duet (SPB)
Kedharanath rendered this song. Our SPB asked "Baatcha" to talk about the sax player of this song. Baatcha said that this was played by "Sax" Raju who is one of the rare players who could play the sax without aberrations in the sruthi. He also said that when he discussed about this sax player with A.R.Rehman, Rahman used to compare Raju with the world renowned sax player Kenny G. Such an impact Raju had created. Our SPB also chipped in saying that the music industry had two great sax players both with name Raju. He also mentioned that many had mistaken that sax was played by Kadri Gopalnath for this song. But he had played sax only for one song in the movie which was also sung by our SPB (maybe Anjali song ....). Only Raju had played for this song, he said and that too with great expressions using his sax. He also talked in awe of the actor Prabhu who is featured in this song. SPB felt that his acting was such that he exceeded even his father Sivaji in expression (having tears in the eyes without letting them fall). He also spoke about the great picturisation of director K.Balachandar for this song and also the use of the "Anjali" song bit in this song when the herione appears in the scene. SPB finally praised the contestant for taking a risky song and presenting it well 99.9%. He, however sang out certain portions of the song himself which he felt the contestant should take care in future which he himself found difficult when singing on stage. He also brought in Baatcha's habit of pointing out mistakes in his singing when they used to record live in earlier days.


4) puththampudhu kaalai.... from alaigal Oiyvadhillai (S Janaki)
Bhargavi rendered this. Before the song, our SPB said that everyday had a new morning listening to the contestants (puththam pudhu kaalai means a new morning). After the song, he said that the ILayaRaja orchestration for this song was such that one could get the early morning feeling on just listening to it. He appreciated the contestant for singing the song well. However as with other contestants, he called for more involvement and josh while singing.

5) vaa vaa vasanthamE.... from pudhu kavidhai (Malaysia Vasudevan)

Pranesh sang this song. Our SPB said to the contestant that he had a very mellifluous voice just like his soft nature and that the voice was also very soft like velvet. He advised the contestant on proper selection of a song depending on his voice. Eventhough the song selected was a soft melody, it required some boisterousness in voice while singing whereas the singer had sung it very soft, he said. He sang out a few lines of the song showing how it should have been rendered in a an open voice. He felt that the contestant had sung the song as if on a phone to a lover or alone hidden away from others. So soft was the rendering. He advised open throated singng. He also said that it was always easy to advise others but he had to do it as it was his duty. He advised the contestant to choose songs suiting his soft voice. However he felt that a singer should be able to sing all types of songs.

6) mannavaa mannavaa........ from Walter Vettrivel (Sunandha)
Subashree from Meerut sang this song. He first appreciated the contestant for her voice saying that God has given her a good open voice which would be very sutiable for recording. The words, he said, were very clear and crisp in her rendition, that too having come from Meerut and he lauded her for keeping her Tamil clean inspite of having gone to Meerut. He said that this was a song which one would not hear often. It had a very good composition by ILayaraja in Kaanada(?) raaga. SPB said finally it was excellent performance except for a few small mistakes at high pitch. He also expressed that she reminded him of yesteryear actress M.N.Rajam. ManoBala the permanent judge of the program also chipped in saying that she looked like Rajakumari (another old actress)


The contestants part being completed, our SPB came on to the dias and said that with this, the episode came to an end and would continue next week also with the same set of contestants and then the winner would be declared. He then went on to deliver his usual weekly message

Message from our SPB :
Many of us buy mineral water in bottles, drink them and then keep the empty bottles at home and fill it up with water and store in refrigerator. This was fine, he said. But, when outside the house, he advised that the empty bottles be crushed and then disposed off into the dustbin so that they cannot be used further. There were many instances wherein these uncrushed disposed bottles are used again for refill and selling as fresh mineral water. This is taking place on a larger scale, he said. Maybe we can give it to it for some home use if required by others consciously. But never throw the bottle as it is or leave it as it is during travel for there are some who even fill it up with normal water and then pack it in attractive manner, sometimes better than the original and then market it. He also said this was also the case with paper cups used for coffee. He advised that they be disposed off, crushed into dustbins to prevent reuse.

SPB song :
Our SPB mentioned that the presence of old timers like Baatcha and ManoBala reminded him of their days together and to commemorate that he choose to sing one of his old beauties "unakkenna maele nindrai O nandhalaala.." from the Tamil film "Simla Special"






Friday, May 25, 2007

Ennodu Paattu Paadungal - Episode dated 21.04.2007

Dear SPB Fans,

I am glad to bring to you one of the previous episodes -EPP-21.04.07 (courtesy : Covai Ravee for the audio file links). Please excuse for the long delay in posting. All pending episodes will be posted shortly so that we are current on this.

This episode was a continuation of the episode dated 07.04.07 (there was no program on 14.04.07 due to Tamil New Year special programs) with the same set of 6 contestants.
The chief judge for the previous episode was veeNai Gayatri and she also continued her presence for this concluding episode of the contest.

Details of the program as follows :

Kural for the Episode :

(Kural No.505)
பெருமைக்கும் ஏனைச் சிறுமைக்கும் தத்தம்
கருமமே கட்டளைக் கல்.
By the touchstone of deeds is seen,
If any one is great or mean

Our SPB explains it as follows : Living through our own hard work is pride. Living through thefts is defaming.Coming up in life through effort is pride. Going up in life by riding on others' back is not good. Our own actions determine whether we are big or small people. This was told by another poet also as "Uzhaithu vaazha vendum pirar uzhaippil vaazhdhidaadhE". One who plants a tree near his house on the roadside is a big man for the tree gives shades, fruit and benefits to others whereas one who plants a bomb on a train is small in stature for he is taking away life. We will join together to bring the ones who plant bombs on train to the front to face action. We will save the country thereby.

First Round of this Episode (second round of the contest):

As detailed in the previous posts, this round features fast paced or peppy or rhythm-oriented numbers chosen by the contestants themselves.

The list of songs of this round were,
1) Kottap paakkum...... from "Naattamai" (Mano & Janaki)
The contestant was Ranjani. Her rendition was good. Our SPB said that he had a feeling of having seen Chitra 10 years back. Chief Judge Gayatri said that for a song, feeling is very important as it also spreads to the audience. She complimented the contestant for singing with good feeling.

2) engEyum eppOdhum.... from ninaiththAlE inikkum (SPB)
Bharani Krishnan sang this song. He did not sing it with the required punch. Our SPB informed the contestant that he noticed an improvement in the body language for his body was reacting to the mood of the song. However, he advised the contestant to bring that to his voice as well. SPB also made known that his own performance was only 75% of what the music director M.S.Viswanathan had demonstrated during the recording. MSV had been as ferocious as a lion while explaining the song to our SPB. He said that so much energy is required to be pumped into the song to bring the feeling of josh. He sang out the pallavi himself to demonstrate how it should be sung. He also advised on the breath management technique to be followed.


3) Idhu oru nila kaalam...... from Tik Tik Tik (Janaki)
Shaswathi Jagheesh rendered this song. She sang it with good feeling and peppiness. Our SPB complimented her but said that the tempo should have been slightly better. Otherwise he was happy with the song. He praised IlayaRaja's peppy composition also and also some technicalities like use of bass guitar and so on, employed for the composition.


4) ennai konjam maattri.... from Kaakka Kaakka (Shalini & Tippu)
Radhika rendered this. Our Guruji complimented the contestant for a good rendering of the song. However, he asked her to take care of diction on the Tamil letters namely "la" & "La".

5) nee yengE.... from chinna thambi (Swarnalatha)
Pallavi sang this number well.

6) SollaththAn ninaikkirEn........ from Kaadhal sugamaanadhu (Chitra)
Vijayalakshmi sang this song really well. As mentioned in the previous episode, she was the youngest contestant aged around 14 years. Our SPB was really stunned by her rendition for he said to her "Vijayalakshmi, how is that all these small sangadhis are easily coming into your voice. You have added your own also into this song without realising it. These sangadhis are coming out so beautifully in your voice. That is so very very nice. I feel very happy. But the only complaint i make is that you should get a little bit more involved while singing a song. Anyway as Gayatriamma had said in the last episode you are still very young and it should come to you with experience". According to me, this is one of the best compliments that our SPB had bestowed on a contestant in the entire series of episode.


Final Round of the contest :
This round featured songs which the contestants had to identify from the tune rendered by our SPB which was from a collection of songs submitted by the contestant during audition. The songs under this category were

1) ottakkaththa kattikO.... from Gentleman (contestant : Ranjani): Our SPB complimented the contestant for recognising the song from whatever he had mouthed. He also praised her confidence in singing saying that he himself normally took 30 minutes to settle down in any program before singing confidently whereas she was perfoming casually without any anxiety at all.

2) sippi irukkudhu..... from varumaiyin niram sigappu (contestant : Bharani Krishnan) : Our Guruji mentioned to the contestant that his life would be smooth if he was as soft in life as he had been while singing. He advised the contestant to sing with greater emotion as required in the song. He then sang out a few lines adding his own words. The line was "mayakkam thandhathu yaar, thamizhO, MSV'O", kannadaasanO". This was received with good applause by the audience in the Studio

3) rojavai thaalaattum....from ninaivellam nithya (contestant : Shaswathi Jagdeesh): Our SPB also hummed at a few places of the song and also sang a few lines of the pallavi along with the contestant who must have been on Cloud 9 having had the Legend sing along with her. He lovingly talked about the greatness of IlayaRaja and his composition at this juncture by using lot of adjectives.

4) konja nEram .... from chandramukhi (contestant : Radhika): he advised the contestant not to take too much liberty with the original composition for she had sung with a few changes here and there. The song has a few words about Kannadaasan and our Great mentioned that he seemed to appear frequently in the lyrics of many songs, so great was he. He also complimented Vidyasagar saying that he was a very good composer.

5) taj mahal thEvaiyillai.... from Shah Jahan (contestant : Pallavi) : he advised the contestant to sing with more involvement and confidence. As in the previous episode, he advised the contestant to do away with singing in false voice.

6) yamuna nadhiyingE......from Gouravam (contestant : Vijayalakshmi): our SPB was happy with her singing. He said he wanted to lovingly talk about the music director of this song (MSV) but could not since MSV was a very senior person and he may get beaten up if he talked that way.

With this, all the three rounds of the contest were completed - first round in the previous episode and 2nd & 3rd rounds in this episode.

All the three - our SPB, the chief judge veeNai Gayatri and ManoBala came on to the stage. Our SPB thanked the chief judge veeNai Gayatri for having participated in the program inspite of her busy schedule and also for the interesting details and hints she had provided during the course of the program, for scoring the contestants and also for encouraging the contestants. He handed over a small momento to her on behalf of the organisors. He mentioned that all the contestants had performed well. He wondered at how much effort would have gone into their singing.

VeeNai Gayatri felt that all sang well. She said she was not for hurting others but she had no other go here at the contest. She said that all the contestants had talent in excess and also in equal measure. She said "practice like a devil and perform like an angel" as advised by her father. She wished everyone good luck.

Then our SPB delivered his message for the episode.

Message from our SPB :
The message for this episode was "the marriageable age is 21 but still many girls are being married off at ages of around 16. Even though the reasons could be due to economics, considering the physical and mental make-up of a girl it is advisable to have her married off only at or above the recommended age. This would ensure that the marriage is long lasting"

Announcement of the Contest Winner :

The scores were as follows :

Vijayalakshmi : 209, Pallavi : 175, Radhika : 203, Shaswathi Jagdeesh : 219, Bharani Krishnan : 189, Ranjani : 253

ManoBala announced Ranjani as the Winner based on the highest score of 253 that she had scored.

SPB song :
Ranjani joined our SPB to sing the song "muthumani maala....." from "chinna gounder" thus accomplishing her dream of singing with the Legend and also moving into the next round.



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Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Thoda Thoda malardhadhina" - Indira & "Thoda Thoda Pyar Ho Gaya" - Priyanka.



Hi SPB Fans,

Todays post is 2 songs in hindi & Tamil. "Thoda Thoda malardhadhina" - Indira & its Hindi version "Thoda Thoda Pyar Ho Gaya" from Priyanka.


Music composed by A. r. rehman & nicely sung by Our Guruji & chitra. they both have given what will rank among their best performances and that for such legendary singers is something. I remember SPB sang 2 lines of this song in bangalore meeting.

This movie is super flop in Hindi. & song also are not hit. But I love this song very much. Enjoy the both songs. A great romance tune. Just melt along with SPB and Chitra... Hariharan also have sung this song in the movie.


Movie Name: Priyanka (1995)
Singer: S.P.Balasubrahmaniyam & Chithra
Music Director: Rahman AR
Year: 1995
Producer: Times Magnetics


thoDaa thoDaa pyaar ho gayaa
tumse thoDaa thoDaa pyaar ho gayaa
dil be-qaraar ho gayaa
milane ko dil be-qaraar ho gayaa
pyaar ki shabnam baras rahi hai
tujh par jhoome man meraa
thoDaa thoDaa pyaar ho gayaa
tumse thoDaa thoDaa pyaar ho gayaa

yahi hai woh bhoomi yahi hai woh nadiyaa
jahaaN ham mile the le ke pehlaa pehlaa pyaar
dilabar jaani dil mein basaa hai
kitne janam se teraa meraa pyaar
gore gaalon ko chhoone de sajani
dil meraa apne hi bas mein nahin hai,
dil be-qaraar ho gayaa, tumse thoDaa thoDaa pyaar ho gayaa
pyaar kii shabnam baras rahi hai
tujh par jhoome man meraa
thoDaa thoDaa...

sapno mein tujhse, milte milte
teraa deevaanaa ho gayaa main
bachpan beetaa, yaad mein teri
satarah baras ki ho gayee main
man mein masti hai saaNsen bahki hain
mere bhi dil ki kaliyaaN mahki hain
dil be-qaraar ho gayaa, balmaa thoDaa thoDaa pyaar ho gayaa
pyaar ki shabnam baras rahi hai
tujh par jhoome man meraa
thoDaa thoDaa...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

song - thoda thoda
singer - S.P.Balasubrahmaniyam, chitra
music - ARR
lyrics - vairamuththu
film - indira
Cast Anuradha Hasan, Arvind Swami, Nasser, Radha Ravi
Director Suhasini Mani Ratnam
Music A. R. Rahman
Script Mani Ratnam


thodaththoda malarvathenna pUvE
thottavanai maRanthathenna
pArvaikaL puthithA SparisangkaL puthithA
mazai vara pUmi maRuppathenna

(thodaththoda)

antha iLa vayathil ARRangkarai maNalil
kAladith thadam pathiththOm yAr aziththAr
nanthavanak karaiyil nattu vaiththa sediyil
mottu vitta muthal pUvai yAr pariththAr
kAthalan thINdAtha pUkkaLil thEnillai
idaiveLi thANdAthE en vasam nAnillai

thodaththoda malarnthathenna pUvE
sudassuda nanainthathenna
pArvaikaL puthithu SparisangkaL puthithu
narampukaL pinnappinna nadukkamenna

(thodaththoda)

panithanil kuLiththa pAlmukam kANa
irupathu vasanthangkaL vizi vaLarththEn
pasiththavan amutham parukidath thAnE
pathinEzu vasanthangkaL ithaz vaLarththEn
ithaz mUdum malarAka ithayaththai maRaikkAthE
malar koLLum kARRAka ithayaththai ulukkAthE

(thodaththoda)

















Thursday, May 17, 2007

sapnon mein aana - chor aur chand (hindi)


Hi SPB Fans,

Today i am presenting 1 great nila song in hindi from the movie "chor aur chand"(1993) - Sapnon Mein Aana"

This movie is a flop movie starring Aditya pancholi & pooja bhatt. But all the songs sung by our SPB are great & Hit. Mano also sang a song in this movie.

Music is composed by Nikhil Vinay. SPB has sung 1 more song with them for the film "Andaz Apna Apna" which is one of the Best Comedy movie in Hindi.

In the movie there are 2 nila songs & both are classics.I am posting 1 of the song now & other i will post later. Hope u all love this song.


Cast - Aditya Pancholi, Pooja Bhatt
Director - Pawan Kaul
Music - Nikhil-Vinay
Producer - Aditya Pancholi
Production - Country India


sapnon mein aanaa dil mein samaanaa
pyaar kyaa hai mujhe tum bataanaa
jee chaahtaa hai ne ye neend toote
aankhon se ab to na sapnaa ye roothe


main chor hoon tum chaand gagan ke
kaise hogaa apnaa milan ye..
ke tum ho ujaalaa, andheron ne paalaa
jatan se mujhe, lagan se mujhe

sapnon mein aanaa dil mein samaanaa
pyaar kyaa hai mujhe tum bataanaa


pehlaa yeh ehsaas hai mera
koi to mere paas hai meraa
agar hai ye sapnaa to lagtaa hai apnaa
ke tum paas ho to sach kaash ho

sapnon mein aanaa dil mein samaanaa
pyaar kyaa hai mujhe tum bataanaa


Chor Ne Socha To Ghabraya,
Chand Jameen Par Kaise Aaya,
Yeh Kya Ho Gaya Hai, Jo Lagne Laga Hai
Ke Hum Tum Kabhi Na The Ajnabee

sapnon mein aanaa dil mein samaanaa
pyaar kyaa hai mujhe tum bataanaa
jee chaahtaa hai ne ye neend toote
aankhon se ab to na sapnaa ye roothe

mazhaiyE mazhaiyE iLamai muzhudhum...



Dear SPB Fans,

There are quite a few gems by our SPB for the Music Director Shankar-Ganesh. He has been excellent with all the music directors and has never let them down ever.

This is one such song where our SPB and SJ combine to provide us a beauty of a melody. Just listen to the way our SPB has rendered the words "dhEva mayakkam" (in the pallavi) and "iLamaikku pasikkum" (at end of second charanam). The humming in the second charanam is just an ecstasy. And the finishing humming of the song is just out of this world. SJ's sweet voice lingers in our ears along with our SPB's. However the chorus humming at two places in the song is a bit of a misfit. Shankar-Ganesh could have done well to have done away with it.

Just enjoy this song.

Song : mazhaiyE mazhaiyE iLamai muzhudhum...
Film : ammA
Singers : SPB & SJ
Music : Shankar-Ganesh
Lyrics : Vairamuthu
Actors : Saritha

Lyrics :

mazhaiyE mazhaiyE iLamai muzhudhum
nanaiyum varaiyil vaa
saaral vizhum nEram
dhEva mayakkam
koondhal malaril thEnai edukka
kaathu kidanthen kaalgaL kadukka
ithayam thudikka

mazhaiyE mazhaiyE iLamai muzhudhum
nanaiyum varaiyil vaa
saaral vizhum neram
dhEva mayakkam
koondhal malarin thEnai kodukka
kaathu kidanthen kaalgaL kadukka
ithayam thudikka

viraga vedhanaiyil paruvamaana oru thaamarai
manmatha dhEsathu maathulai
viraga vedhanaiyil paruvamaana oru thaamarai
manmatha dhEsathu maathulai
naam pogum paadhai engengum
payiraagum kaadhal thangam
naam pogum paadhai engengum
payiraagum kaadhal thangam
uyirukkuL eriginra neruppu
vandhu anaippadhu ini undhan poRuppu

mazhaiyE mazhaiyE iLamai muzhudhum
nanaiyum varaiyil vaa
saaral vizhum neram
dhEva mayakkam
koondhal malarin thEnai kodukka
kaathu kidanthen kaalgaL kadukka
ithayam thudikka

nanaindha poovil vandu odhungum pOdhu
oru sOdhanai
paabapaappappa ……………………..
maargazhi maadhathu vEdhanai
nanaindha poovil vandu odhungum pOdhu
oru sOdhanai
paabapaappappa ……………………..
maargazhi maadhathu vedhanai
madi meedhu saiyum innEram
mazhaikkaala aasai thOndrum
madi meedhu saiyum innEram
mazhaikkaala aasai thOndrum
idaiveLi kuraingindra nerukkam
intha iravinil iLamaikku pasikkum

mazhaiyE mazhaiyE iLamai muzhudhum
nanaiyum varaiyil vaa
saaral vizhum neram
dhEva mayakkam
koondhal malaril thEnai edukka
kaathu kidanthen kaalgaL kadukka
ithayam thudikka

lalalala (ah ah ah…) ………………



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Wednesday, May 16, 2007

"Koffee with Anu" featuring our SPB






Vijay TV's "Koffee with Anu” – 12/05/2007

Dear SPB Fans,

Last week's “Koffee with Anu” had our SPB & GangaiAmaran as the main guests with SPB.Charan (SPB’s son) and Venkat Prabhu (Gangai Amaran’s elder son) joining them later in the program.

Many of you would have seen this program on TV but there might be quite a few who would not have been fortunate enough to see it on TV. So, for the benefit of these fans and also for the benefit of all the other state fans, I am presenting this write-up in English accompanied by an audio recording (Tamil) of this program. (thanks to Covai Ravee for providing the audio file of this program)

The program was very hilarious with both SPB & GangaiAmaran opening out without any inhibitions and indulging themselves in lot of leg pulling and pranks just like children. It was indeed a delight to watch them lashing out at each other jokingly and in turn making us laugh a lot. The anchor “Anu” did a great job conducting the show joining the freaking out. Now, go ahead and read this article on this program. Our SPB was really very natural in his talking and narrations and he was really very excited and honest about everything. He was his usual self, joking a lot. His expressions at many places were cute and enjoyable. The intimacy he had with GangaiAmaran showed in the way he addressed him as "Vaadaa" "Poadaa".
The program also brought the care that our SPB had for his son and alos GangaiAmaran's son encouraging them in all their endeavours. This also made clear the background to his friendship with IlayaRaja and BharathiRaja and their intimacies.

To start off, I will follow the same format of the program meaning Q&A format as it would give a feeling of having seen the program.

The hostess for this program was Anuhaasan the daughter of Charuhaasan (Kamalhaasan’s brother).

She first gave a brief about the person to be invited as guest. Her words were “laughter, mischief, sadness, sorrow, love, romance – give him any emotion and he brings it into his voice effortlessly. Such a distinguished person is our first guest. He has sung more than 36,000 songs and found a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. I am talking about none other than the most versatile, supremely talented and most beloved SP Balasubramaniam”. With these few words, she welcomed our SPB. There were brief exchanges of greetings and then the program started off.

Anu: Sir, I feel very happy to see you.

SPB: Thanks

Anu: I will ask you a question now. The usual boring question. How is that you maintain your voice

SPB: I pledge that I have never maintained my voice. I am indeed afraid to say that lest all others will follow it. I have no restrictions. Without ice water, I cannot live. I cannot be without cool drinks and I eat lot of sweets. Normally, they do not take curd since it tastes sour but I cannot be without curd. Only thing I don’t do is that I am a vegetarian. I have been smoking, nobody knows, for about 30 years, only recently I stopped smoking. Everybody has the blessing of their parents and Guru. I think I have received more than my share.

Anu: Is that so. Did you have the aspiration to sing right from your childhood?

SPB: No. It is a peculiar story. I wanted to become an Engineer. Wearing that Khaki dress, going around in a jeep with a driver, earning Rs.500 which was a big amount those days and being in a government job – this had been my wish. It has no relation now. I had written the screen play but HE (meaning God) refused to direct it (Anu laughs out heartily). HE himself had written the screen play for me. It is an accident that I have become a singer. I had taken part in a competition for fun when Janakiamma asked me. What would have happened was that if I had won that competition three times in a row, I would have got to retain the shield. But somehow there was some politics and they gave second prize and announced the other boy as the first prize winner. Janakiamma had come to that place on that day to give away the prizes. We two had to sing the songs in front of her and after hearing it, she felt angry saying that “even though the first prize winner was good, the second prize winner (our SPB) was better than him and he should have actually been given the first prize”. Already I was awestruck seeing her and hearing her recommendations chilled me. She then called me and asked where I was. I told her that I was in Madras (now Chennai) only and doing my AMIE. Why don’t you try in cinema, she asked me. I was 17 or 18 at that time. No, No. that is not possible I said. She asked me why. I told her that I did not know music, I have not learnt from anyone and that I did not even know the “sa pa sa..”. Even I do not know it, am I not singing, she said. I thought she was just joking and I told her so. After all, she had sung very classical based songs like “singaravelane…”. She said that she had sung all that mathematically only and did not have any swaragnanam. Oh, then I felt she was serious about me and she asked me to try. At that time, I did not know any Tamil and I was a typical Golti, having come from Andhra.

Anu: you have learnt after that, is it not?

SPB: Nothing at all. Till now, I have not learnt it.

Anu: But you are talking very well, Sir.

SPB: So, when I went to all Telugu Music Directors, everyone told me that I was singing well but that my voice has not matured from that of a boy. My thought was that it was not my cup of tea and moreover Father had sent me here to study with all his difficulties. Such being my state at that time, there was a national level contest at Andhra Club, Chennai. I knew about this contest but I had no intention of participating as I thought I would not stand a chance and hence did not go that side at all. But my roommate without informing me had registered my name for that contest by paying Rs.10. The judges for the competition were Ghantasala Master, Music Directors Pendyala Nageswara Rao, Dakshinamurthy. When I went to sing, I found that I was the first one to sing as there were no participants with names starting with “A”. I was called first. Seeing the three great personalities, I was afraid, but closed my eyes and went ahead. We were not supposed to sing a cine song. So, a day earlier I had composed a Telugu song with music by myself and sang it. The competition was for three days as there were 77 competitors. Prizes were to be announced only after three days. Having completed my song, I came down and sat among the audience waiting to see how the other competitors sang, quite sure that I would not get any prize. Suddenly a short and fair complexioned man came to me and asked me if I will sing in cinema. I did not even stand up as I thought he was pulling my legs, making fun of me. I told him I will not sing. He asked me why I will not sing. I said I am not interested, I know I cannot sing. Just singing in this contest cannot mean I can sing in cinema. He then asked me if I will sing if he gives a chance. I realized that this man was serious, so I got up and told him that I did not know who he was. He told me that his name was Kothandapani, a Music Director and that he had done music for 3 or 4 films. Having not seen him earlier, I did not know who he was. I told him “Sir, I had met all but no one gave me a chance”. He then took me to a producer who also said that as I was a grown-up boy I can sing neither for heroes nor for children and concluded that may be after 2 years I could be tried. Mr.Kothandapani told me not to get disheartened and asked me to see him later and that he would definitely give me a chance. Again I said that it is not my cup of tea having seen him embarrassed in front of me and I went back to college to pursue studies. I did not give him my address. He had tried hard to locate me and after two years, he caught hold of me in the college and got me back and gave me my first chance for a Telugu movie.

Anu: All is written on the forehead, is it not, as you said earlier. Now you are singing confidently, is it not?
SPB: I pledge it is not so. Before I went to the mic to record my first song, an amazing incident happened. We had two days rehearsal for my song and the call sheet was for 2pm at Vijaya Studios. I was told that a production car would be pick me up and was asked to come over. Among the three pair of dresses I had, I liked the pair of white trouser and shirt. I had it dry washed and was waiting for the car along with my friend Murali, he is still working as an assistant recordist at my recording studio. (The Kothandapani Studios in Chennai belongs to our SPB). The time just scrolled on 2 to 3 to 4pm, the car did not turn up. I thought they had not liked my singing in the rehearsal and hence had not sent the car. I started undressing but my friend said we will go to the Studio. I said no. If they wanted me to sing, the car would have come. But he said that we will go. Both of us had cycles, so we went to Vijaya Gardens. What to tell, there was a Gurkha standing there, later he became my friend which is another story. He asked me “kya chaayiye”. My friend told that I had come to sing. It is normal for many to turn up at Studios looking for a chance. The Gurkha asked us to leave and do our studies. I was in tears. What my friend did then was to inform the Gurkha that he would leave our two cycles along with me at the entrance and that he would go in and get the production man outside. The Gurkha thought about it and finally let him in. At that time there was no mode of communication for me like phone, cell phone etc. The production man came and took me inside. The Music Director (Kothandapani) was angry and told me that they had been waiting so long for me to come. I told that the car had not come. He told me that the car had actually met with an accident and the driver who was in the police station did not know how to convey this and that’s why. When I finally went before the mike, the Producer (comedian Padmanabhan) came over to me and said that I had been singing well. However he said that if at all, my voice did not come out well on the mic, they would then use Ghantasala Master to dub the song. Being already exhausted, hearing these words further brought me down and I recorded the song in that state itself. After the completion of my bit they had to record the other bits, it was a live orchestra with about 30 to 40 musicians I sang in the same hall as the other musicians, there was no separate cubicle. After the recording, there was no information from inside and I thought I was out of it. Meanwhile, Susheelamma came and said that it was OK and maybe for a change they were discussing to have one more take. Suddenly everyone came and informed that the take was OK and congratulated me. That was how it happened and I had a payment of Rs.150 which was a big amount and it started off like that

Anu: Well, we thought about collecting some background information on you. Instead, we felt it would be better to invite your close friend to this show who will tell all your secrets.

SPB: Yaah that’s right. He will be the one to tell all my secrets

Anu: To tell about lot of secrets of Sir, his best friend will be coming now. So, our next guest, who is sailing on the ever floating ship of SPB that is friendship, your (meaning SPB) best friend, the very talented GangaiAmaran. I am very happy to welcome GangaiAmaran to this show.

GangaiAmaran arrives and is greeted by Anu.

SPB: Come on, Man

GangaiAmaran: Who is this? I remember having seen this brother somewhere.

SPB: Come on, Man. Sit (Anu laughs)

GA: I have been waiting for such a chance. Really what to do with this Man. What all to unearth about him and let out. At last you have come.

Anu: We have also been waiting for that only

SPB: I thought this Man had come dressed like this because I am here (GA was in pant & shirt – tucked in).

Anu (to GA): You were different when we met the last time, Sir

GA: When?

Anu: Was it not you the last time over here

GA: That was not me

Anu (to SPB): This is the first time he is coming

Anu (to GA): Before starting off, are you comfortably seated?

GA: Very Happy

Anu (to SPB): He changes his appearances often, does he not?

SPB: In fact, in one instance someone greeted him thinking that he was IlayaRaja. He was serious like him at that time

GA: Some people used to ask me, without much of hair and a beard. Why that, take for instance, at IlayaRaja’s home itself. All used to tell me that I resembled Rajappa (meaning IR) and I used to tell them, no, I laugh. (Anu laughs out heartily). There is of course some resemblance between us. Yes, BALA.

SPB: What Man, it has been a long time since I had seen you

GA: Now only, we have got the time to speak

SPB (to Anu): True, True. We talk only over phone. It has been a long time since we met.

Anu (to SPB): I understand you two used to roam around in an old & useless scooter those days

GA: Yes. It would not start even when pushed.

SPB: Each time, we used to open it up, remove the spark plug, clean it between us and then start it.

GA: Yes. At that time, he (SPB) used to be leaner than me

SPB: Very lean.

Anu (to GA): Yes, undernourished, he told me.

GA (to SPB): How do you maintain your voice, your body?

SPB: Yes, really, I am maintaining it so that it does not go beyond this. There is so much difficulty even in that. I cannot reduce it. Not adding further is in itself OK.

GA: Your beauty is in your size. If Balu becomes lean and I become like him, will it not look good?

Anu (to GA): To youngsters, he is a very popular figure, not only because of what he is, it is his attitude also.

Anu (to SPB): And “Chennai 600028” (film), how much you have encouraged and supported.

SPB: How can I not do it? It is my son’s film. In fact, it is our sons’ film (SPB Charan is the Producer and VenkatPrabhu-GangaiAmaran’s son is the Director). Last time when you had done a program with his (GA) son and him ….

Anu: No, he had told he will not come.

SPB: Well, someone like him attended it. You had even asked them (Charan & VenkatPrabhu) whether our friendship was better or SPB Charan-VenkatPrabhu friendship was better and they said that this was better because Charan produced a picture for his friend’s sake. Even I took a film for this fella (GA). For his love affair, I was the messenger. I had given love letters to his wife. (GA acknowledges)

Anu (to GA): So, he used to give the letters

GA: Yes. He used to give love letters on my behalf.

SPB: because I had some respect. Wherever I go I was welcomed. No one used to go near this fella because he is a ruffian (he tells this in a squeaky voice). So, I used to go respectfully and tell her that he had sent the letter and used to give it to her

GA: At that time, I was not doing much. I used to write a bit. In fact, as Balu had said he had composed his own Telugu song for a competition. I wanted to translate that song in Tamil as we were doing lot of Tamil films during those times. That Tamil song first came on stage in a program at SIET College, Chennai. Balu was really bull dozed by the crowd then.

SPB: I was very handsome then!!!

GA: Not only he. IlayaRaja & BharathiRaja were also there. Only these people who were like that are now in front of you all.

SPB: You are a Brutus

GA: I am just sharing what has happened. What is that we are achieving by hiding all these. On that day, I gained an identity. Only on that day, I wrote the Tamil version “raagamum adhan naadhamum…”. My “would-be" wife was also at the program on that day. Balu sang that song. After completing it, there was no need for him to announce but he made known to the crowd that the song was written by the guitarist “Amar” (meaning me). Only after that, my image wiht my love grew 15 folds. Such a great Balu, the great singer whom the youngsters loved and listened to, he need not have mentioned my name. From that time onwards our friendship has continued non-stop. It is by God’s grace.
(click on this link to listen to the song "raagamum adhan naadhamum" http://myspb.blogspot.com/2007/05/blog-post_15.html)

Anu: Such a wonderful friendship. You have acted but I learnt that even GangaiAmaran and BharathiRaja had acted a lot in College. (laughs)

SPB: In fact, all these persons were introduced to me by BharathiRaja only. He was my first friend. Even before he (BharathiRaja) came to the cine field, he used to conduct plays. Somehow we got introduced to each other. I was just growing up at that time. I used to play flute for his plays, do background score & also sing at that time.

Anu: Do you also play the flute?

SPB: Yes, during those times. Not now. I have left it. For one of his drama scenes, he wanted a jibba. At that time I had only one in cream colour, at that time it was Rajesh Khanna style fashion. He had asked me to lend it and I gave it to him. I was watching the play and in one of the scenes, as I was watching, he tore that jibba. I asked him why he did it. I had only a few dresses. But he promised to buy many such jibbas once he became a director. He became a director of course but till date he had not bought me the dress. Actually, we two were supposed to make his first film, he, the director and I, the producer.

GA: the name of the movie was supposed to be “Mayil

Anu: Mayil?

SPB: Later, it became Padhinaaru Vayadhinile. He (BharathiRaja) also used to be with me. I bought a new car then and I could not afford a driver, I used to drive myself. He was not yet busy at that time and so he used to accompany me for my programs. While driving, he used to tell me lot of his stories. I used to tell that his stories were much ahead of the times. First he told me the story of “Sigappu Rojakkal”. At that time, Kamalhaasan was not that popular. I told him that this could be made only with Sivaji Sir. Do you think we could make films with him? He used to tell me that he was getting lot of ideas like these. He kept on telling such stories. He was extraordinarily intelligent. Even in the recording studios, whenever he got time, he used to take me to the lawns and tell me a story. We thought that to make a film, Bangalore was the right place as there was lot of subsidies being offered then. We even thought of setting up an office at Bangalore. I had a brother-in-law there and I even sent the script to him. But later due to financial reasons we had to wind it up. Suddenly when he got an opportunity, he asked me for the script and I tried to trace down my brother-in-law who meanwhile had changed his home thrice. The script could not be got back. Again, he wrote the script. Also, it was only after his third or fourth film that I got the chance to sing in his films. Such close friends we were. It was he who introduced me the “Pavalar” Brothers. There was one Srinivasan who used to be the in-charge for the music director G.K.Venkatesh. He should be 76 now and I used to call him in the first person only. He used to assist me in my rehearsals. One time I was rehearsing for a program at my small home with my orchestra when BharathiRaja brought these three brothers to me - Raja, Bhaskar & Amar. After completing the rehearsals, I came over to Rajayya (ILayaRaja). He told me that he will play the harmonium and I asked him to play something. He played the Laras melody from the film Dr.Siva, double handed and I was simply astounded. Was it possible to play like this? At that time I already had a harmonist who was the one who had given me my first chance to sing in Madras in an orchestra. He was working in the Corporation. I did not want to lose Rajayya (IlayaRaja) such a musician. I asked him if he knew music & notation writing. He told me that he knew nothing and could play only from listening. I told him in that case we both are one. I helplessly told him that I had already a harmonist with me and what to do; he then told me that he could also play the guitar. At that time I did not have a guitar player, I had only a mandolin player. I asked him to join me. For my programs only these two (Rajayya & GA) used to come together. The original harmonist retired later due to difficulties in concentrating on his job. So, GA became the guitarist, Rajayya became the harmonist and combo was played by Bhaskar. Then we formally set up the orchestra.

GA: At that time we used to play the songs “Pournami Nilavil” & ‘Aayiram Nilave vaa”. We used to change the chords in the orchestration, ILayaraja used to change it and we used to play differently than the original. (both GA & SPB play a sample bit using their mouths).

SPB: Even now I tell my musicians to note down the improvisations done by IlayaRaja and play it. Using only the harmonium, IR used to play Aradhana songs like “Mere Sappon…” (SPB mimics the tune), whenever I was late for a program. Even now he uses that small harmonium box. I did not need anyone else if Raja was there.

GA: It would have been better if either BharathiRaja or IlayaRaja were here along with Balu for this program because their friendship is much more. Our relationship is not so close like theirs.

SPB: He (GA) was a small fellow at that time.

GA: They would not allow me near them during those times. They (SPB, IlayaRaja & BharathiRaja) were a separate party.(here GA plays around with the Tamil word “thani” meaning separate which if pronounced differently as “thanni” means liquor)

Anu (to SPB): Sir, does he (GA) not know Tamil properly


SPB (to GA): Are you from Bombay?

GA: What Bombay?

SPB: No, you said that you did not get the words right, that’s why.

Anu: So, due to struggles, your friendship has become stronger.

SPB: yes, we used to do it somehow – whether bus, lorry, cart, boat, cycle or whatever it is., we used to take and somehow do a musical program.

GA: We used to go on his scooter to each and every sabha requesting for an opportunity for a payment of just Rs.300 or 400.

SPB: We used to do a sabha program for Rs. 250. After paying for everything, we used to get hardly Rs.10. That was a very big thing and we used to feel happy.

GA : Another big thing is that, in Pollachi, there was a program. IlayaRaja had initially refused to come for the program as he had a music exam to appear for at Trichy Musical College. Balu insisted that he come and offered to drive IlayaRaja himself in a car after the exams to Pollachi. At that time. IlayaRaja was only a musician and not a music director and we used to play for many films. IlayaRaja had prepared a lot – both theory and practicals. After the exams, Balu took IlayaRaja from Trichy in a car. While nearing Vellore……

SPB : During the night, I was driving the car. The driver was also there. Since we had to make it fast and he was afraid, I had taken over from him. On reaching Vellore, actually there was no need to go through Vellore, my driver took over. Now you tell (to GA)

GA : After Vellore, the car suddenly braked and it was thrown away for whatever reason. If one had seen the car, it would be doubtful if anyone survived.

SPB : The car had hit a post and fell into a nearby river and settled with top side down. We were 7 of us in the car including the driver – myself, Raja, Amar, Joseph, Madhu (Tabla), Kalyanasundaram.

GA : If you saw the car you would wonder if anyone would be alive.

SPB : On that night, we had a program. Only Madhu had a small injury and we went ahead with that program. Raja announced that he would give us a party that night at Quality Hotel, Kodambakkam. The party was over. Raja told that all this had happened for something good. Before that time, Raja had two or three chances for music direction and we used to put in our efforts to take it through but somehow it did not happen and it stopped halfway through a recording. Raja was vexed that he would never ever get a chance for music direction. But after this incident, Raja felt that this accident had happened for good since we had come out of it safely. And true to his words, everybody who had traveled in that car has grown to good positions in life.

Anu : beautiful. All the six in the vehicle?

SPB : Yes, everybody. In their respective fields had come up. But nowadays we could not be ourselves like before. We are not able to meet each other. Even when we meet, we are grown up, we have children but we want to play like children.

GA : But that intimacy has not changed. Once in Prasad Studios, IlayaRaja used to walk from a room to the recording theatre and producers who stood there on the sides used to wish him and Raja would wish them silently and would go on his way. Both of us were there at the studio then and Balu was feeling why he (Raja) is behaving like this. Just wait and see, what I do now, Balu said. He (Balu) went upto IlayaRaja and tickled him on the waist and IlayaRaja started running around the studio not able to bear the tickling of Balu. One had never seen these two running around before and all people present there had a good time clapping, laughing and shouting out. Bala asked Raja why he was hiding all the happiness within himself. Even today, other than Balu and BharathiRaja there is no one else who addresses Ilayaraja as “Vaadaa”, “Poadaa” (in the first person). There was much of intimacy between them. They have shared all their happiness & secrets in life.

SPB : All of us have come up the hard way. We have seen life. We are still seeing life.

GA : You heard about my love story. What about Balu’s love story ? Don’t you want to hear it.

Anu : Come on, tell us. We are here only for that.

GA (to Anu): Why are you not asking such useful details?

Anu (to GA) : That is why we have called you so that you will let all these out and you are performing your role correctly.

SPB : I myself will tell it. As if it is a big secret. I was living in their house. She was my relation. We fell in love with each other. But, both of us had the same “Gothram”. It was not acceptable being Brahmin families. What to do. We both eloped. We took help from friends and went to a place named Simmachalam near Vizag famous for the Narasimhaswami deity. Our friends married us off. At that time GangaiAmaran was not there. For two to three years, we were set aside by our families. We were very young. My wife was 16 and I was 21 or 22 and we were alone by ourselves. What to do.

Anu : And you were still struggling then?

SPB : No, it was not a problem. Economically, I had settled down. But within one and half to two years my daughter was born. Even when our child used to cry we did not know whether it was due to stomach pain, what to do and where to go. We used to take her in the car to the beach, going around in order to stop her crying. Like that we struggled a lot. Everything went off well after that.

Anu : What is unusual is that, the friendship of your generation has unfailingly blossomed in this generation also between both your sons (SP Charan & Venkat Prabhu).

SPB : we are very happy. It need not have happened at all. In fact, they have a stronger bondage. They love each other. Really I have to tell. One day Charan came to me and told that he wanted to make a film with Venkat Prabhu as the hero. I asked him if Prabhu could act. Charan told me, yes, he has acted but you have not seen it. I said if he has talent then Ok. That type of character, only if he does it, it will be good, Charan told me. Go ahead, I told him. After that they produced the film “Unnai Charanadainthen”. I saw the film and I was really very happy with the performance. Both the boys were extremely good. I did music for that film. It was a very good movie. Very very good movie. We did not earn money from that but received lot of awards for it. But they were depressed a bit. What to do. Charan then thought that the only way was to make a big commercial movie. They got the rights of a Telugu movie “Varsham” and remade it into Tamil as “Mazhai”. It came out well, they produced it well, but it was over budgeted and we lost heavily in that picture. After that, I told Charan that no more films henceforth. He had already done MBA and I advised him to do some business or look after my recording studio or go back to the US and take up a job there. But he wanted his production company to grow into a big business house. One fine day both Charan and Venkat Prabhu came straight into our bedroom. I and my wife were seated there. Charan told that Venkat had a script with him which he will narrate. On hearing the script I was laughing. I told them it sounded silly for making into a film. Charan told me it would work out. I asked who would direct it. Charan told me that Venkat himself would direct it. I asked Venkat whether he had worked under any director. He replied “no uncle”. What will you do, I asked him. He replied that he will do it. I said OK, go ahead. They went ahead and made it as a small film. Now it has become a big one and is being talked about. They have also gained enthusiasm and confidence from it. (the film in discussion is “Chennai 600028 produced by SPB.Charan and directed by Venkat Prabhu)

Anu : Two great friends have been playing here. And now, to come, will be the next generation friends.

With that, both SPB Charan & Venkat Prabhu come over to the show and join SPB & GangaiAmaran. Anu welcomes them.

Both Charan & Venkat Prabhu touch the feet of SPB & GangaiAmaran and obtain their blessings and also wish them and get seated. Our SPB chips in lightheartedly by protecting his chappals lest Charan take it away from him.

Anu : Did you see the two friends?

GA : Where do you come from?

Charan : From behind the stage.

Anu (to the young friends) : you also have to talk. You two share a good friendship, maybe stronger than theirs. What do you think (to the old pair)

SPB : Come on, talk yah. Let us see what you tell.

Anu : Don’t murmur. Talk out loudly (to the young pair)

Charan : We are normal friends. We do not have anything great to share like these two old friends.

Venkat Prabhu (to the old pair) : Both of you had helped each other in your love and pushing the scooter and so on.

SPB : You remember only that. We have created the right platform for you and you have nothing to do.

Charan & Venkat : We too have struggled.

Anu : What is this? Looks like college ragging.

SPB : What struggle have you faced ?

Charan & Venkat : we also have struggled in our own way.

SPB : The only struggle you two have undergone is produce two films both of which were failures. That was your only difficulty and in turn made it difficult for us also.

Everyone laughs heartily.

Charan : That is why our friendship is big. Because of us you have faced difficulties but because of you we have not faced difficulties.

SPB : But your recent film (Chennai 600028) is doing well and we are happy.

Anu (to Charan) : Please tell us about your director (meaning Venkat Prabhu) of the film “Chennai 600028

Charan : There is nothing to tell. He has created all the damages.

Venkat : In fact, in this “Koffee with Anu” program, after Anu, I have made the most appearances (having featured in the show along with the Chennai 600028 film crew)

GA : yes, the results of the film is quite good.

SPB : why are you now coming from a theatre

Charan : In one of the theatres, tickets are being sold in black at Rs.450 for our film.

Venkat : Rs.450 per ticket

GA & SPB : Oh ! Oh !

GA : One ticket ?

Charan : Yes.

GA : Can you give me 200 tickets ?

Charan : please see me in my office tomorrow

GA : to sell in black

SPB : Can I get 200 tickets ?

Charan & Venkat : to sell in black ?
GA : to do side business

SPB : One catch is that, if he (GA) disguises himself for selling tickets no one will recognize him, but, whatever disguise I put on, people will find me out.

Anu : When all the four of you are here, I thought of talking about the film "Chennai 600028" with you. It is running very well. The other temptation for me is that I want to make you all sing.

GA : If that is our fate, we will have to do it.

SPB : Amar, are you going to sing !!!???

GA (to SPB) : please learn now how to sing, brother.

SPB : Do you want me to learn how to sing or sing how to learn

GA : I want to taste (meaning test) him now.

SPB : he is telling how to taste. People from North speak like that only. In fact they say “I went to a hospital . I wanted my urine to be tasted (meaning tested).”

Everone laughs out heartily

SPB : Yes many from North pronounce words like that. Do they not make fun of our Tamil? Whatever language we speak, we do it correctly. I have sung and acted in Hindi.

Both SPB & GA hit out at each other making fun about Tamil pronounciations.

GA : OK, Balu. Now I will sing out a tune. It is there both in Tamil & Telugu. Do you want me to just hum the tune or sing the song? OK. I will sing the Tamil Version.

GA starts singing a few lines of a song (making a poor presentation of the song)

SPB : This is in Vijaya Productions. The film was Chandrahaaram. I do not know what it is in Tamil. What is it in Tamil ?

GA : In Tamil also, it is Chandrahaaram

SPB : RamaRao was hero. Ghantasala Master did music.

SPB sings out a few lines of the Ghantasala song in Telugu

SPB (to GA) : This is how, he has sung it.

GA sings it again to make fun of SPB

GA (to SPB) : we know you are a big singer. Should you should not feel proud that we are singing atleast.

SPB : Yes, yes, I feel very proud !!!!

GA : We have sung many old songs. What to sing ?

Anu (to SPB & Charan) : Both of you should sing a song

SPB : If the tune is known, it is a duet, we can sing. Anu will fell very happy.

SPB & Charan together sing the song “Thoda Thoda Malardhadhenna..” from Indira. (Anu was the heroine in this film). They also sing a few lines of the Hindi version.

Anu : Beautiful.

Then, Charan & Venkat sing a song “Yaaro ….”. SPB & GA also join them eventhough they are not familiar with the song. SPB compliments them for the song.

Then, SPB narrates an incident involving GA, wherein GA had tried explaining to SPB about a song (neelavaana odayil from the film vaazhve maayam) in one of their recordings. GA had played the tune in the right pitch in the harmonium but while singing along he sang at a different pitch. Our SPB made fun of this incident and provokes GA to imitate the scene engaging the other three. SPB jokingly said it was quite difficult to play and sing at different pitches. Everyone laughs out heartily.

SPB : Anu, he (GA) is an unfortunate fellow. Do you know what? For how many films have you composed music (to GA)

GA : Around 165 films

SPB : He has composed lovely songs, many of which I have only sung. When his songs become popular, it gets usually attributed to IlayaRaja and people used to say it must have been done by IlayaRaja. Very unfair. Very unfair.

GA : Anyhow, I have earned him (IlayaRaja) good name, is it not ?

Everyone laughs out.

SPB : Actually his (GA) orchestration and style is entirely different and he has done wonderful music.

GA : yes, it has happened. Believe it, believe it.

Anu : We know, Sir.

SPB hums the song “Vandhanam..” from “Vaazhve Maayam

SPB : What great songs he has made.

GA : The original film was "Premabhishekham” in telugu. I did all the songs for the Tamil version. I copied only the Pallavi of only one song from the original (GA & SPB sing out the song “mazhaikkaala megham ondru….). All the other songs are completely different from the original and were composed entirely by me using my brain and whatever talent I had.

SPB : He had it then.

Everyone laughs out heartily

Anu : He (GA) is a very down to earth person

SPB : Yes, down to earth person. Always searching on the ground. That same quality his second son has also imbibed. Just see the film “Chennai 600028”. He never catches the ball even once. Always slipping out and always searching for it.

Anu (to Venkat) : What about your Producer (meaning Charan – who had produced the Chennai 600028 film).

Venkat : Great. Good. Knowledeable knows all four.

SPB : All four means what ?

Venkat : Everything - North, East, West, South. He (Charan) gets angry, Uncle, nowadays. He gets tensed up and I get caught in it.

Charan : Just ask me why. Never has he come for the shooting on time. Should I not shout or not ?

GA : The shooting is all over. Why talk about it now.

SPB : One minute, I was to go abroad one day. On that morning there was pooja in this same AVM Studio. A set had been put up. I had to break the coconut and then leave for the airport. Everyone had come on time at 6:15 except the director (meaning Venkat). Big brother came 45 minutes late. The excuse was that he had got caught in the traffic. There was no traffic at all at the time.

Everyone laughs.

Anu : All these can be forgiven in friendship

GA : even if he is late, if he comes out with the latest, it is OK.

SPB : If we leave it like that, then it would become a sentiment to come late everytime since the film has become a big success. Discipline is important. Even if you had a late night for whatever reason, one should come on time the next day.

Charan : I should tell one thing now. It is 25 days since the film was released. He (Venkat) is an excellent and wonderful talent. I am very proud to have found him.

SPB : as a director

Charan : I have had him as a friend for a while now. Having found the director in him, I dedicate him to the Tamil Film World.

Anu : he himself decides it

GA : why not Telugu films also

Charan : Ask him. He has been with me for quite some time and he can’t even speak a single Telugu world.

GA urges his son to speak out something in Telugu. SPB joins in and starts making fun of GA saying that he also has not learnt Telugu having been associated with him for a long time. There are lot humorous exchanges on this topic with GangaiAmaran trying to speak in Telugu and SPB criticissing GA for pointing out mistakes in his Tamil diction and so on. GA then jokingly volunteers to sing a Telugu song but it does not come out from this throat. SPB chips in saying whether he is singing it within himself silently. Finally SPB himself sings a few lines of a Telugu song “Raasaanu Premalekhalulo..” a GK.Venkatesh composition sung by SPB & Janaki which they had sung on stages many times. He ends it with a beautiful humming prompted by GA who tells that he had taught SPB the humming !!!!???. GA at this juncture mentions that he had also composed for a few Telugu films.

Anu : In this program, for the first time, we have taken a decision. This laugh riot which they have done – how can it be restricted to a single episode. So, it has to be continued in the second episode also. So, do not forget to tune in for the next episode.

With this final note from Anu, this episode came to an end.

I conclude my write-up also and will come back to you next week again.

Hope you all enjoyed this presentation


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