Continued from part 5

Part 6

What is the yardstick for quality? Is it the virtuosity displayed in each song for the number of songs sung? Is it the variation shown within the limited availability of options? Or is it plainly possessing the talent of rendering any given structure with equal ease? As the movie medium began to cater to masses after being a high-brow art form during its early era, the bar was gradually brought down and it became a commonly accepted fact that not every movie could aspire to have rich traditional and cultural values and thus not every movie could be musically appealing to the masses while endearing itself to the classes at the same time. When universality became a factor, traditional form gave way for colloquial and folk expressions and consequently songs that would satisfy the purists became scarce. A snappy song became one that had simple lyrics, simple style, and one that could be hummed by the average listener with much ease and less difficulty. When social movies became prevalent with the passage of time, this requirement became a necessity whereby, songs that really tested the mettle of the singer were very few and very far between. In such situations what attributes add up to the quality of the singer? By the time the early 70s rolled in, the tempo of the songs increased, the pacing got a lot faster and snappiness became a major factor. Frankly speaking, a person of Ghantasala's caliber is not needed for a "kaDavettu kocchindae paDuchu pillaa" or "chengaavi rangu cheera kaTTukunna chinnadi" or even a "naenu puTTaanu ee lOkam navvindi". Any of the lesser degree singers could have done equal, if not more, justice to the above said and all that Ghantasala's name tagged to the song did was add more weight. Would the dilution of his otherwise rich repertoire with such ordinary fare diminsh the quality of his voice, in other words, is quality a factor of quantity?

As the decade rolled into the 80s, Balu had the entire music scene of the industry to himself to boast about, but the quality of songs, in terms of their longevity and listening pleasure, didn't quite live up to the earlier standards when he started off during the late 60s and surged during the 70s. Business rules dictated the quality (dubbed as approachability) and the standard (dubbed as reachability) of the song; the number of the songs was no longer dictated by the parameters of the script, rather by the relief factor that the makers wanted to play by. Couple of duets, a sentiment song, a titillating ditty, and the final relief song (which could be another duet or a situational number) before the plot finally makes its big push towards the climax became the standard template for commercial ventures to abide by reducing the important role of the songs to a mere timepass transition point within the story structure. An occasional off-beat movie, or a typical K.Viswanath/Balachander/Jandhyala movie was all Balu could count on to flex his vocal muscles and add to his dwindling tally of quality songs, caught up in the glut/rut of commerciality. 80s marked the last decade of meaningful cinema and the dozen or so among the hundreds of the movies released every year staked claim for ever-lasting music. Interestingly K.J.Yesudas came into the picture at just the same time and started to make inroads into the traditional/classical scene in the telugu filmdom, eating up whatever few opportunities that Balu had to be termed as the true heir of Ghantasala in both the traditional and popular film music. More than the term "heir apparent", the artistic satisfaction that Ghantsala might have had singing "haayi haayi gaa aamani saagae" or "rasika raaja tagu vaaramu gaamaa" was denied in great measures to Balu, thanks in large parts to the creative direction that the telugu movie took during the 80s.

Though Balu was never appreciated by the purists whole-heartedly, the common populace that swayed away to the lilting tunes of light music embraced him unconditionally - "chinukulaa raali, nadulugaa saagi, varadalai pOyi, kaDali gaa pongu nee praema", "idea naa modaTi praemalaekha, raasaanu neeku cheppalaeka", "taaralu digi vacchina vaeLa, mallelu naDichocchina vaeLa" and many many such melodies cemented his position in the pantheon of light music. Whether any other singer with just the right opportunity, would have done just as great as job as Balu had, is a question that is as irrelevant as it is amusing. Balu's association with K.Viswanath rewarded him with his first complete classical musical album, that started with the path breaking movie "SankaraabharaNam" (just as his earlier ones with Viswanath in "chelleli kaapuram", "seetamaalakshmi", "O seeta kadha", "siri siri muvva" etc were equally fetching). Bathed in classical tunes, and dripping with traditional notes, SankaraabharaNam tested the latent talent of Balu in classical music - "Sankara gaLa nigaLamu, sree hari padakalamu, raaga ratna maalikaa taraLamu SankaraabharaNamu", "ksheera saagara sayana daevagaandhaarilO, nee pada nartana chaeya gaa, ma pa ni, raagam taanam pallavi", "O chaturaa na naa divandita neeku paraakaela nayyaa" and the interesting one, as far as measuring up to Ghantasala's range, the famous Syamalaa danDakam "maaNikyaa veeNaam muphalaalayanteem, madaaalasaa manjula vaagvilaasaam". SankaraabharaNam remains a seminal piece in the career of Balu, earning him the much needed respectability with the purists among serious music circles.

Good music contributes to a good song. Good lyrics lend a helping hand to a good song. Good delivery helps in increasing the popularity of the good song. While a great song is a certain amalagamation of all the above three, a good song can be any given combination of the above. "chakkera chilaka kikkuru manaka vaddaku vastae teerustaa nee muddu, gaaDida guDDu, bangaaru baatu guDDu, bandaaru chakkera laDDoo" may not exactly constitute as interesting music composition that would be quoted for generations. But the gusto with which Balu rendered the song, lifting the decent enough lyrics and ordinary music, making it a good commercial song in the process, speaks volumes of his ability in making the ordinary sound extra-ordinary, casual-catchy and typical-anything but. "idigO tella cheera, ivigO malle poolu, tella cheera kaTTukO, malle poolu peTTukO, tellarlu naa paeru vallinchukO, idae modaTi raatri" - another run of the mill, commercial film music. Again the same enthusiasm, the same verve, and the same gusto. 80s (or the late 70s, to be precise) marked the arrival of another force into telugu film music that raised the bar for commercial music, aiding Balu's cause in being a commercial singer with a difference. It is no exaggeration that his entry marked a new era in telugu film music and along his side, Balu marched along scaling new peaks, blazing new paths and discovering new facets in his own singing that were hitherto untapped or unexploited. He gave a new character to the concept of commercial film music and Balu's art would remain just as thankful for his mere presence - Illayaraja.

(Cont'd in Part 7)

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