THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “Whenever I went to Chennai for work, I would make sure I would go past [music composer] A.R. Rahman’s house,” said Balabhaskar at a meeting on Marine Drive, Kochi, a few years ago. “It was like visiting a temple. I would see the house and feel good inside.”
Bhaskar heard the soundtrack of ‘Roja’ when he was in Class nine and became a fan. His next attempt to see Rahman was when singer Chitra Iyer [who sang the Rahman hit, ‘Alle, Alle’ in the Tamil film, ‘Boys’] took him inside. But Rahman was sleeping. “I was heart-broken,” he said.
But fate finally smiled at him. For the audio release of director T.K. Rajeev Kumar’s film, ‘Seethakalyanam’, Rehman was invited to Thiruvananthapuram. Kumar asked Balabhaskar to play a tribute on the violin. “It was a great opportunity,” said Balabhaskar. “I was playing Rahman’s songs, like ‘Tu He Re’ from ‘Bombay’, and doing some improvisations. And I was thinking, ‘My God is sitting so close’. It was the greatest experience of my life.”
After the programme, Rahman invited the violinist to his hotel room. “One of the first things he said was, ‘Hey man, you seem to be popular,” said Balabhaskar. “What are you doing?’”
Balabhaskar told him about his band and Rahman responded by inviting him to visit his studio in Chennai. “He was so simple and humble,” said Balabhaskar, as he closed his eyes and a look of bliss appeared on his face. “When I left, I was shouting on the road. I was so thrilled.”
Wife Lakshmi remembers
The first time Lakshmi met Balabhaskar was at University College, Thiruvananthapuram in 2000. Soon, they began to meet regularly. After a while, Balabhaskar proposed marriage. “I felt he was joking,” said Lakshmi. “So I told him to get lost.” But Balabhaskar was not upset. He said, “Your answer does not change my feelings for you.” So, he kept on proposing. And Lakshmi kept on rejecting him. “But one day, I finally realised he was serious about me,” said Lakshmi.
Balabhaskar went and met Lakshmi’s parents. “Like most parents, they were against the idea,” said Lakshmi. “They told me that both of us were so young. And Balabhaskar had no job.” So, without informing their parents, they had a registered marriage, on December 20, 2001, at Thiruvananthapuram, in the presence of a few friends. Eventually, both sets of parents accepted their marriage.