
Krish Ashok remembers Balamuralikrishna, whose ‘Oru naal podhuma’ made a space for Carnatic music in the hearts of the rural TN; calls him a musical polymath who could play many instruments with astounding virtuosity
Will one day suffice, he asks, twirling his moustache and raising his eyebrows while being seated above his highness the Pandyan emperor himself. Will just this mere day suffice, he repeats with a dexterous phrase in the Raga Maand and looks around the court for certain affirmation that not even a lifetime is enough to appreciate the full genius of M Balamuralikrishna, who gave voice to the very affable T S ‘ in the A P Nagarajan Tamil classic Thiruvilayadal. The playful chronicles of the gods in that movie were presented in a condensed form just in that one 6 minute song that gleefully meanders from Maand to Kalyani, Thodi, Darbar, Mohanam and Kaanada.
Mangalampalli Balamuralikrishna passed away on Tuesday, November 22, 2016 at his residence. A child prodigy, he started performing at the age of six and went on to perform more than 25,000 concerts worldwide and was singing well into his 80s while still retaining the 6 octave vocal range and pitch perfect smooth voice of a 20 year old.
I could go on about the innumerable awards he won in his life – the Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and the Padma Vibhushan, just to name a few, but to merely reduce him to the titles others conferred upon him misses the point about Balamuralikrishna.
As a Carnatic classical violinist myself, I grew up admiring the man not for his ability to make the purists go Baesh, Baesh! because he put a tick mark on every item in the checklist of the traditional concert format, but because of his ability to transcend those stuffy boundaries.
The flawlessness of his Thodi Ragam Thaanam Pallavi went hand in hand with his bold experimentation with new and unknown ragas like Lavangi and complex time signatures (Talas). He has also composed over 400 compositions in Telugu, Sanskrit, Kannada and Tamil.
The establishment wasn’t always appreciative of his tendency to experiment but as a young violinist growing increasingly disillusioned with a formulaic concert structure that only gave the illusion of improvisation while in reality largely rehashing the same cliched and pre-cooked Alapanas and Kalpana Swaras, Balamurali was proof that true live improvisation was indeed possible.
His ability to go beyond cliches was legendary, if not always audience friendly. He would take a raga like Lavangi, that only has four notes and still manage to creatively extract every possible musical phrase without sounding repetitive. As a musician, this is the equivalent of a challenging math puzzle and he helped me see a side of music beyond the mind-numbing pedagogy, rigorous practice and adherence to crowd-pleasing formulae.
In fact, at a time when my teachers would actively discourage any interest in western styles of music, the explorative genius of Balamurali subtly persuaded me to disregard my teachers and learn to appreciate the art for the joy it brings from the creative process.
He was a musical polymath – he could play the violin, viola, kanjira and mridangam with astounding virtuosity and unlike many from his generation, never looked down on film music as being infra dig. Baliah ends that famous song in Thiruvilayadal with “I am the God of music” and that description fits very few musicians. One of them is the man who sung that song.
Awards
■ Padma Vibhushan ■ Padma Bhushan ■ Padma Shri ■ Ordre des Arts et des Lettres ■ National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer – Hamsageethe – “Himadri Suthe Pahimam” ■ National Film Award for Best Music Direction – Madhavacharya ■ Sangita Kalanidhi by The Music Academy ■ Lifetime achievement Global Indian Music Academy Award ■ Sangeetha Kalasarathy Sangeetha Virinchi tilte conferred by Sangeetha Bharathi Music School, Auckland
Memorable film compositions
1967: Aadi Anaadiyu Neeve Deva Narada Sannuta Narayana, Siri Siri Laali Chinnari Laali, Varamosage Vanamali Naa Vanchitammu Neraverunuga from Baktha Prahaladar
1977: Chinna Kannan Azhaikkiraan from Kavikkuyil
1977: Kuruvikkara Machane from Navarathinam
1994: Nagumo from Indhu
2009: Anbaley Azhgagum Veedu from Pasanga
Krish Ashok is a popular blogger from Chennai who works as the head of Web 2.0 Innovation lab at TCS. He is a passionate open source enthusiast, an amateur Rubyist, a classical violinist, a guitarist, and an amateur cellist. You might remember him from the stint he had as a Radio Jockey, with Chennai Live 104.8