SPB Lives On!

Padma Bhushan S.P.Balasubrahmanyam, a favorite of not just some but all, who has remained the king of South Indian Music Industry for over 4 decades, continues to make his presence felt across every Indian Music lovers melodious hearts, even days after his demise. His is a contribution which can undoubtedly not miss reaching the souls of not just this, but many generations to come. The man is registered with the Guinness Book of world records for singing the most number of songs which are over 40,000, in sixteen different languages, and has won six National Film Awards and the Padma Shri and the Padma Bhushan awards in 2001 and 2011 respectively.

Selecting just a few songs as favorites of SPB’s though can be a daunting task as he owns some hundreds of hits to his list, here is an attempt by us to pick some of his bests.

‘Illaya Nila’ from the Tamil movie ‘Payanangal Mudivathillai’
This song is known for the fusion of Carnatic and Western music , and it tops the list because the critics have mentioned and recognized the versatility of the singer through this song. The essence of this song has made through as an all time favorite.

‘Kadhal Rojave’ from the movie ‘Roja’
With this movie, the world got introduced to another living legend, A.R.Rahman, another director and composer who still stands strong at making the Nation proud with his finest possible tunes. SPB with his voice has given this song the soul and has made it an evergreen number in different languages with such ease. This is a proven reflection of how wonderful a combination of Balasubramanyam and A.R.Rahman can get.

‘Omkaara naadhanu’ from the film ‘Shankarabharanam’
Based on a carnatic singer’s life, this song was quite a task but the legend ended up winning the first of his many National awards. Its said that Music Director KV Mahadevan and his assistants had a tough time convincing SPB on a few points for this particular song, but as a reflection of their faith on SPB, the songs of this movie turned out to be from his bests.

‘Tere mere beech main’ from the movie ‘Ek duuje ke liye’
As SPB’s debut Hindi movie, the beauty in the composition of this song combined with the charismatic vocals brought the legend another National Award. SPB’s voice fetched superstar Kamal Hassan some major image and post this movie he was flooded with opportunities and has many hearts.

‘Jothe Jothe Alee’ from the Kannada movie ‘Geetha’
This was his debut in the Kannada industry, its said that his performances on stage in Karnataka for this sing drive the audience crazy and that the people would never let him end his performances on stage shows, without singing this song. He gave voice to one of karnataka’s favourite actors Shankar Naag and people loved it as it went along with the heroes voice so well.

‘Saathiya Tune Kya kiya’ from the movie ‘Love’
This beautiful song is everyone’s favorite and the combination of SPB and Salman khan needs no special mention as they have some amazing movies together on charts. This song will remain a classic for its momentous lyrics and for the melodious voice lent by SPB.

Though a devotional but partial attempt of listing some hit numbers of SPB, the effort if needs to be complete would only get endless. In short songs like these would stay in hearts through ones life
Thoda thoda…
Pattu onnu naan…
Muthumani malai…
Aracha santham…
Aate jaate haste gaate…
Wah wah ramji…
Suvvii suvvi…
Pehla pehla pyaar hai…
En kaadhale…

and the list goes on while SPB LIVES ON!