Hyderabad: Dr M. Balamuralikrishna had often vented his righteous anger at his native state of Andhra Pradesh as an artist, including saying: “Andhras lacks music sense and only Tamils have the music tradition, be it vocal or instrumental.”
The outspoken artiste, a rare attribute in the world of music, even took on then chief minister N.T. Rama Rao, himself an artiste, for abolishing various academies, including the Sangeeta Natak Academy, in the state and merged them with the Telugu University in 1983.
Immediately after the government announced the decision, Balamuralikrishna vowed not to visit Andhra Pradesh or hold a concert in the state as long as Rama Rao was Chief Minister. The singer stuck to his promise, calling the decision to abolish the academies “foolish and senseless.”
Years later, in 1995, N.T. Rama Rao’s wife Lakshmi Parvati and senior IAS official K.V. Ramana Chary brokered peace between the two. The government organised a concert at Ravindra Bharathi for Balamurali Krishna, and Rama Rao sat for the entire duration.
NTR later appointed Balamurali Krishna as pro-chancellor of Telugu University with Cabinet rank status. Incidentally, N.T. Rama Rao in the late 70s remade Narthanasala as Sri Madvirataparvam and requested Balamurali Krishna to sing in the film, and the result was Jeevithame Krishna Sangeetham. It was picturised on NTR, who reprised his role in the earlier film as Narthanasala.
The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam appointed Balamuralikrishna as aasthana vidwan (court poet), and he performed a rare concert — for the first time in the history of TTD — in front of the ‘Maha Dwaram’ of the temple in 2008 with thousands of devotees attending. Despite a heavy downpour, the concert went on.
In a way, Balamuralikrishna followed the tradition of the great composer Thyagaraja, who was born in Andhra but settled in Tiruvaiyaru in Tamil Nadu. The multi-faceted personality Bhanumathi Ramakrishna also settled in Chennai and was appointed principal of the Madras Music College. There is a saying in Telugu, that Telugus will only recognise local talent after the artistes are recognised by others.
How can I talk about God: Disciple
Composer and singer Sharreth was initially unwilling to talk about his guru Dr M. Balamuralikrishna. Finally, when he opened up, the first thing he asked was: “You are asking me to talk about God. How can I?”
“If at all I have achieved something in life, it was only because of Guruji,” Shareth said, fighting tears. It was as a six-year-old that he first sang before the legend. Balamuralikrishna had come to a temple near his house in Kollam for a concert. “My uncle took me to Guruji at his hotel room. I was told to sing the 'amritavarshini' raga. When I finished he looked at me for a beat and told my uncle that he wanted to teach me,” Sharreth said. “That moment, when Guruji told my uncle that he wanted to teach me, was the pinnacle of my life,” he said. The ‘shishya’ said he could never see Balamuralikrishna other than as God.
“He knew everything about music. He had answers for questions that would have troubled even the gods,” Sharreth said. “He was Krishna-like; cool, down-to-earth and always with a smile,” he said. The magic happens on stage.
