S P Balasubrahmanyam: The south Indian voice that enthralled Hindi film buffs

Whether it is ‘saathiya tune kya kiya’ or ‘mere jeevan saathi’ or ‘ham bane tum bane’ or ‘dil diwana’ or ‘sach mere yaar hai’, S P Balasubrahmanyam has enthralled audiences of Hindi cinema across generations.

SPB, as he was popularly known, touched hearts with his mastery of voice and the way he carried the songs from start to end.

In Hindi films, he had lent voice to Kamal Haasan and Salman Khan besides several other actors for close to three decades. He also lent voice for Rajesh Khanna and Dharmendra.

An admirer of melody queen Lata Mangeshkar and the late Mohammed Rafi, the south Indian singer had his own charm and a flow of melody when it came to his unique Hindi diction and his style of singing.

SPB has sung for top Bollywood music directors and composers like Laxmikant-Pyarelal, Kalyanji-Anandji, R D Burman and Naushad to name a few.

In Hindi films, he shot into fame with romantic tragedy film directed by K Balachander, starring Kamal Haasan and Rati Agnihotri. All the songs, composed by Laxmikant–Pyarelal, were superhits and immortal – ‘tere mere beech main’, ‘hum tum dono jab mil jayen’, ‘hum bane tum bane’ alongside Lata Mangeshkar and ‘mere jeevan saathi’ with Anuradha Paudwal.

In fact, SPB managed to carve a niche for himself when the late Kishore Kumar was at his very best.

In 1985, the late RD roped SPB in Saagar, a romantic-triangular involving Rishi Kapoor, Kamal Haasan and Dimple Kapadia. The genius in RD made SPB and Kishore Da sing together and churned out a foot-tapping ‘yunhi gaate raho’ - that is still played in parties. Besides, the solo ‘sach mere yaar hai’ and ‘O Maria’ with Asha Bhosale went on to become a chartbuster.

In 1989, when Maine Pyar Kiya, a musical romantic film featuring Salman Khan and Bhagyashree was released, it was SPB who was equally appreciated – and all the 11 songs were superhits. Whether it is ‘kabutar ja ja’ or ‘aaja shaam hone aaye’, ‘dil diwana’ , ‘didi tere dewar diwana’ with Lata Didi – he proved what his range was. The lyrics were written by Asad Bhopali and created by RaamLaxman.

In the 1991 flick Saajan, another romantic-triangular of Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan and Madhuri Dixit, SPB was back with his magic thanks to the duo of Nadeem-Shravan. The songs – ‘bahut payar karte hai’, ‘tum se milne ki tamanna hai’ – are still remembered.