Actor, music director and producer · Telugu cinema
S. P. Balasubrahmanyam
S. P. Balasubrahmanyam movies: 29 Telugu films on file (18 as actor, 11 as music director, 2 as producer), 1979–2018. Earliest on file: Toorpu Velle Railu (1979). Latest release: Devadas (27 September 2018).
- Films on file
- 29 (18 as actor, 11 as music director, 2 as producer)
- Years on file
- 1979–2018
- Born
- 4 June 1946 · June birthdays (Wikidata)
- Died
- 25 September 2020
- Record
- Q2049688 on Wikidata
S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, known as SPB or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, music composer, actor, dubbing artist, television presenter and producer, widely regarded as one of the greatest Indian singers. He sang in 16 languages, mainly Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi, and won six National Film Awards for Best Male Playback Singer, including three for the Telugu films Sankarabharanam, Saagara Sangamam and Rudraveena, and 25 Nandi Awards.
He was born on 4 June 1946 in Konetammapeta, Nellore district, into a Telugu family, according to Wikipedia and Wikidata. His father, S. P. Sambamurthy, was a Harikatha artist, and the singer S. P. Sailaja is his sister. He taught himself music, enrolled at JNTU College of Engineering, Anantapur, and in 1964 won a Madras singing competition for amateurs. He died in Chennai on 25 September 2020.
Career
He debuted on 15 December 1966 with “Emiyee Vinta Moham” in the Telugu film Sri Sri Sri Maryada Ramanna, composed by his mentor S. P. Kodandapani, and recorded his first Kannada song the same year. He has said that “Ye Divilo Virisina Parijathamo” from Kannevayasu (1973) was a turning point. He also holds the record for most songs recorded in a day: 21 Kannada songs on 8 February 1981.
K. Viswanath’s Sankarabharanam (1980), scored by K. V. Mahadevan, brought him international recognition and his first National Award. With Ilaiyaraaja and S. Janaki he formed one of the most successful teams of the 1980s, winning further National Awards for Saagara Sangamam (1983) and Rudraveena (1988); Chiranjeevi has said SPB’s voice was one of the main reasons for his success. In Hindi he became Salman Khan’s singing voice from Maine Pyar Kiya (1989), which won him a Filmfare Award, and in the 1990s he worked closely with A. R. Rahman from Roja onwards. According to his awards list, he sang more than 50,000 songs.
He also composed music for Telugu films; our records include Bapu’s Toorpu Velle Railu (1979) and Seethamma Pelli (1984), Singeetam Srinivasa Rao’s Mayuri (1985), which won him the Nandi Award for Best Music Director, Jandhyala’s Padamati Sandhya Ragam (1987) and Vamsy’s Lawyer Suhasini (1987). As an actor he appeared in Pavithra Bandham (1996), which won him a Nandi Award for Best Supporting Actor, Indra (2002), Shakti (2011), Devasthanam (2012), Midhunam (2012), opposite Lakshmi, and Devadas (2018). He also dubbed for actors, winning Nandi Awards for Best Male Dubbing Artist for Annamayya and Sri Sai Mahima.
Awards
- Padma Vibhushan (posthumously, 2021), Padma Bhushan (2011) and Padma Shri (2001) (India Today; The Indian Express).
- National Film Award for Best Male Playback Singer, six times (Wikipedia winners list).
- Nandi Awards: 25 in all, per Wikipedia (Sify), mostly for Best Male Playback Singer, from Sankarabharanam to Mahatma (winners list).
- NTR National Award (2012) and Indian Film Personality of the Year at the 47th IFFI (2016); full list in his awards list.
Where to watch
- Devullu and Ooyala, in which he acted: Aha, per the platform listing
Catalogues change; check the platform before you plan to watch.
Sources: Wikipedia and the references it cites (linked above), Wikidata, and Tollywood Desk’s film and OTT records.
Career on file
S. P. Balasubrahmanyam has 29 Telugu films on file at Tollywood Desk, dated from 1979 to 2018: 18 films as actor, 11 films as music director and two films as producer. The earliest of them is Toorpu Velle Railu (1979), and the most recent release is Devadas (2018). Measured by how many Wikipedia language editions cover them, the best-known titles here are Devadas (2018), Shakti (2011) and Indra (2002). Other recent releases on file are Midhunam (2012), Devasthanam (2012) and Mayabazar (2006).
Brahmanandam is the most frequent co-star, sharing six films with S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, followed by Ramya Krishnan (3) and Rajendra Prasad (3). Among directors, S. V. Krishna Reddy cast S. P. Balasubrahmanyam most often, in two films. Music on 11 of them is by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, with M. M. Keeravani (3) and Mani Sharma (3) next. Vyjayanthi Movies produced three of them, more than any other banner on file. Across these films the credits on file name 24 different directors, 12 music directors and 86 other credited actors.
Runtime is on file for 20 of them; they average 144 minutes, and the longest is Indra at 173 minutes. Four of them have a streaming (OTT) release noted on the site. By decade the list splits into 1970s (1), 1980s (12), 1990s (8), 2000s (4) and 2010s (4). 1987 is the busiest single year, with three films.
Figures come from the films on file at Tollywood Desk and change as records are added.