{"id":29435,"date":"2015-04-18T00:15:15","date_gmt":"2015-04-18T04:15:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=29435"},"modified":"2015-04-18T00:21:23","modified_gmt":"2015-04-18T04:21:23","slug":"%e2%99%a5-remembering-pb-sreenivas-and-his-enchanting-duets-with-s-janaki-%e2%99%ab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=29435","title":{"rendered":"\u2665 Remembering PB Sreenivas and His Enchanting Duets With S. Janaki \u266b"},"content":{"rendered":"
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by D.B.S. Jeyaraj<\/strong><\/p>\n

T<\/strong>he traditional April new year dawned on a sad note for me last year.I woke up to the news that well \u2013known singer of film songs Prathivadi Bayankara Sreenivas (P.B.S) had passed away in India. He was one of my favourite filmsong singers.I grew up with the Tamil film songs of people like Sreenivas, TM Soundararaja, P.Susheela, S.Janaki, AL Raghavan, LR Eeswari etc.<\/p>\n

\"\u266b<\/a>

\u266b P.B. Sreenivas (September 22, 1930-April 14, 2013) & S. Janaki (b: April 23, 1938) \u266b – pic courtesy: The Hindu<\/p><\/div>\n

Although the octogenarian had been inactive as a play back singer for over two decades the voice of PBS (Sreenivas often quipped that his initials PBS denoted Play Back Singer)<\/strong> like those of his contemporaries, never ever went out of my life thanks to audio and video cassettes. I also got opportunities to hear him singing in person when he visited Canada for musical shows.
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\nSeeing these veterans live on stage was both a joyful and sorrowful experience. It was great to see them perform in the flesh but I was equally moved to see those golden voices now faltering and cracking due to age struggling to render the songs which they once sang with gusto and verve.I would return home and play those songs again. While listening, I would nostalgically hark back to their glorious past and contrast it with the flickering present.<\/p>\n

The passing away of PB Sreenivas on April 14th last year spoiled April new year for me last year. The loss of PBS was followed by the deaths of TK Ramamoorthy three days later.TKR was the partner of MS Viswanathan for over a decade as music composer. The Viswanathan-Ramamoorthy Duo known as the \u201cMellisai Mannargal\u201d (Kings of Light Music)were the uncrowned kings of Tamil film music in the sixties of the last century. One month later another film music great TM Soundararajan also breathed his last.A few months later the well-known Tamil film lyricist \u201cVaali\u201d also passed away.<\/p>\n

LABOUR OF LOVE \u2665<\/strong><\/p>\n

The departures of these great personalities evokes a sense of loss in people of my generation who were their fans and rasikas from childhood. It was my ardent desire to write about these singers,musicians and poets and of their renditions, compositions and creations.Family members and friends urged me to do so.I too wanted to write but just could not find the time or energy. Writing about these people can only be a labour of love and nothing else.<\/p>\n

I thought that I must write about them at least when the anniversaries of their demise are observed this year.Hence I begin this \u201cJaya\u201dnew year with a tribute to PB Sreenivas who died on the same new year day last year. Instead of trying to write a comprehensive essay about him at one go , I thought of focussing on certain facets of the man and his songs in a series of occasional articles about him.<\/p>\n

PB Sreenivas was a Telugu by ethnicity. However he sang over 3000 songs in several Indian languages inclusive of Tamil in a career that spanned many decades. It was in Kannada films that Sreenivas had the greatest impact. He used to voice for the great Kannadiga actor Rajkumar who himself remarked that he(Rajkumar)was the \u201csareeram\u201d (body)and Sreenivas the \u201cSaareeram\u201d (Voice).<\/p>\n

PBS who lived in Chennai sang many songs in Tamil films.As in the case of Rajkumar in Kannada films, PBS achieved much recognition as the singing voice of \u201cKaadhal Mannan\u201d (Romance king) Gemini Ganesan. He also sang for actors like Balaji, Aananthan, Sreeram, Ravichandran, Jaishankar, Muthuraman, Kalyanakumar etc. He sang very few songs on screen for MG Ramachandram, Sivaji Ganesan or SS Rajendran.<\/p>\n

CROONER<\/strong><\/p>\n

PB Sreenivas has often been described as a \u201ccrooner\u201d of film songs.Usually Crooners sing slowly and softly in a captivating manner. The songs are usually of a romantic flavour. This sentimental singing style tugs the emotional heartstrings of the listeners.PBS excelled in crooning during his halcyon days. The love songs were both sad and happy. He was also praised for rendering philosophical and inspirational songs on screen.The Viswanathan-Ramamoorthy duo provided a lot of opportunities for PBS.After they broke up MS Viswanathan gave PBS a lot of chances.<\/p>\n

PBS sang many solos and duets for Tamil films. He was paired with singers like Jikki, P.Susheela, S.Janaki, Jamuna Rani, Soolamangalam Rajalakshmi and LR Eeaswari in singing Tamil film songs.Though PBS songs with Susheela are greater in quantity, it is his duets with Janaki that are great in quality. This is my personal opinion which I know is shared by many.Who can forget the immortal\u201d Thennankeetru Oonjalilaey?<\/p>\n

S.Janaki\u2019s first song in a Tamil films was with PB Sreenivas. As stated earlier both these Brahmin singers hailing from Telugu land have made their marks in Tamil cinema by rendering memorable duets. Though PBS sang softly and pitched it low and medium , his voice was a deep bass. Janaki singing high pitch was a soprano who was capable of getting away with falsettos. Both were singers without formal training in carnatic music.<\/p>\n

Sreenivas and Janaki complemented each other in singing.More importantly there was a personal chemistry between them. Both respected each other and got on famously. PB Sreenivas who wrote poems in many languages penned several in praise of Janaki. She framed some and hung them on her wall. Once while celebrating her birthday PBS delivered an impromptu speech and spontaneously shouted out \u201cJanakikku Jay\u201d in different languages.<\/p>\n

TRIBUTE<\/strong><\/p>\n

When PBS passed away last year there were many tributes from contemporaries and fellow artistes.One of the most touching heartfelt comment was from Janaki who complimented Sreenivas thus \u2013
\n“We have lost the most humble singer I have ever come across in my life. He was so humble that he spent most of his time appreciating the work of fellow singers. He would even take time to write poems praising their work,” Janaki, who sang several chartbusters with him over the years, told IANS.<\/p>\n

“He was known for his simplicity and very welcoming attitude. Even when he was at the pinnacle of his career, he never grew greedy of his position and always respected fellow artists,” she added.
\n“My first song in Tamil ‘Magadhal naattu Mary’ was with PBSji. We sang so many duets together. I can’t exactly remember how many songs, but most of them were quite popular,” she said.<\/p>\n

It is against this backdrop that I would like to write about some of the PB Sreenivas-S. Janaki duets in this piece.They could be compared to the Ghantasala \u2013 Leela and TM Soundararajan-P Susheela duos. Janaki herself has sung with many others including TM Soundarajan, KJ Jesudas, SP Balasubramaniam and \u201cMalaysia\u201d Vasudevan. Sreenivas too has paired with others notably P.Susheela with whom he has sung some unforgettable numbers. However I want to focus briefly on some PBS-Janaki songs in this piece.<\/p>\n

MAHATHALA NAATTU MARY<\/strong><\/p>\n

S.Janaki\u2019s first break in Tamil films was when she got an offer from music director Salapathy Rao for the film \u201cVithiyin Vilaiyaattu\u201d. However that film never saw the light of day. Hence her first song in a Tamil film was from \u201cMahathala Naattu Mary\u201d (Mary from Magdalene).The film released on December 20th 1957 was produced by M.L.Pathi and directed by S. S. Rajan.<\/p>\n

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