Potpourri of tidbits about Tamil cinema - P. B. Srinivas

I joined the law college and completed one year. But I was not interested in studying and I strove hard for entry into the cine field meeting the concerned people. My father took me to Manisankara Sastrigal, the music director of Gemini Studios. My first song was for the Hindi film Mr. Sampath in the year 1951. I sang duets with Shamshad Begum, Jikki and Geetha Rai. My first Tamil song was ‘Sinthanaiyaen selvamae …’ in the film ‘Jaadhakam’. My next Tamil film was ‘Adutha veettu penn’. My songs in this film became hits. My song ‘Kaalangalil aval vasantham …’ in the film ‘Paava mannippu’ for which the music was scored by the duo MSV-Ramamoorthy became a super hit and catapulted me to fame and popularity overnight. During those times, I used to recall the words of the astrologer whom I challenged and would laugh.

Q: Can you share with us some of your pranks of your younger days … your love affairs …

A: Today, you are seeing the Srinivas without moustache. In those days, I used to sport a thick moustache with the belief that people would admire me and respect me! But my parents always opposed it. They would insist that our family was an orthodox family with strong belief in tradition and culture and that my growing moustache could not be accepted or approved. I would draw moustache to actresses in photos and would give them to the concerned artistes. Some would enjoy the fun, some would censure me affectionately. Many women had fallen in love with me and had written to me expressing their love. But I never took all those seriously, I would simply dismiss them as sheer papers. But I’ve written a number of love poems and songs. Might be because of this practice, I had sung the maximum number of songs for ‘Kaadhal mannan’ Gemini Ganesan, I used to wonder.

Q: How do you feel when you listen to your songs on the radio or television?

A: I would thank the lyricists, music directors, producers, actors and above all the people who relished my songs and rendered them huge hits. I would enjoy listening to the songs and would sing them again. I enjoy not only my songs, but every song sung by other singers too. I’ll tell you a secret … learn to enjoy all types of music. Appreciation decides the value of any art. Appreciate all good deeds and congratulate the doers over phone or in person immediately. You’ll see the results for yourself. You’ll also remain young and brisk like me.

I wished Srinivas a very long and healthy life. Let us all pray to God for his welfare!