In cinema, you will get many talented people but to get talent with humility is rare and SPB was the epitome of that. No matter where you met him, you got positive vibes from him. I wanted him to sing a song for me for my latest directorial, 100. I called him a month-and-a-half ago and he asked me to send him the tunes. After listening to it, he sent me a voice note explaining that the tune is in a high note, which was out of his natural range, so he suggested another singer’s name.
He told me it wasn’t that he couldn’t do it but he felt there would be some artificiality to it. He has sung around 41,000 songs but he still had the humility to say this. Coming from an accomplished person like him, this is a rare quality.
I sent a message saying, ‘You refresh my love for you’.SPB and I acted together in Tamil and have given silver jubilee hits together. The singer would always add emotion, and it would be challenging to match it. SPB would play small pranks in between songs.
He was also a part of my show –Weekend with Ramesh. I remember the last question I asked him – ‘How is your life?’ And he said, “Who knew that I would get so many laurels? I am happy to say goodbye right here. There is no greater moment.”