14th October 2005

Ghantasala - the very word reverberates thousands of tunes in ones mind, ranging from devotional songs to romantic melodies; from sad solos to comedy numbers. A legend who ruled the music segment of telugu film industry for more than 25 years, with his impeccable voice and amazing tunes, though gone from this mortal world for more than three decades, is still alive in the hearts of crores of music lovers.

Sri Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao was born on December 4, 1922 , in Choutupally, a small village in Andhra Pradesh. He inherited his zeal for music from his father, Sri Ghantasala Soorayya, a musician in general and Mridangam expert in particular. As a child, Ghantasala played in stage dramas and gained a nick name for himself as 'Bala Bharathudu', and joined his father in almost every village show. His schooling was done in Gudivada. His father passed away when Ghantasala was just 11 years old, and he pretty much regarded his father's last words regarding the magnitude of music, that paved a golden track for him in his later life. Sri Susarla Krishna Brahma Sastry was his initial mentor in classical music. He played in Chinthaamani and Sakkubai dramas as a child. In the year 1935, his passion for classical music had driven him to sell his gold ring and reach the eminent Music College in Vijayanagaram, where he mastered music under the guidance of Sri Patraayani Seetha Rama Sastry. He graduated from the Music College in 1941 when the Principal, Sri Dwaaram Venkataswamy Naidu presented him with the degree of 'Sangeetha Vidhwaan'.

Eventually, Ghantasala participated in the Quit India Movement during August, 1942 and was imprisoned for 18 months in Bellary Central Jail.

Ghantasala moved to Chennai, formerly called as Madras, on the advice of Sri Samudraala Senior. His private song 'gaali lona bratuku' and a poem 'nagumomunaku nisa naada bimbamu' were recorded by HMV for the first time in 1945 which made him quite popular and his voice gained recognition. He was introduced to the great director and producer Sri B.N.Reddi by the great lyricist and writer Sri Samudraala Raghavaacharyulu and consequently, he made his playback debut in 1945. His first song was 'oho naa raaja, oho na raani, leyennela chirunavvula irajimmu bhatani', with Smt. Bhanumathi Ramakrishna in the movie 'Swarga Seema'. And the rest is history. He never looked back, with torrent of offers like Ratnamala, Palnati Yudham, Balaraju, Gunasundari Katha, Laila Majnu etc.

Besides being a great singer, he had composed music for over 100 movies. His first movie as a music director was 'Lakshmamma', though 'Keelu Guram' was released first in 1949. His third movie as music director was 'Manadesam', which incidentally was the debut movie for another legend Sri N.T.Rama Rao. Apparently, Ghantasala did not accept any remuneration for his third movie as music director, as a form of gratitude to the producers, who gave him the golden opportunity to compose for three consecutive films. Apart from composing music for film songs, Ghantasala had also composed music and sang Sri Gurajada Apparao's 'Putthadi Bomma Poornamma', Mahakavi Srisri's 'Polaalannanni halaaladunni' & 'Aaanandam arnavamaithe', Sri Karunasri Jandhyaala Paapayya Sastri's 'Pushpa Vilaapam' & 'Kunthi Kumari'.

If one has to prioritize his golden melodies, certainly it is not an easy task, considering thousands of beautiful songs rendered by him. He delivered amazing solo songs, with lot of ease and perfect articulation. His songs like - siva sankari, sivaananda lahari [Jagadeka veeruni Katha], rasika raja taguvaaramu kaama [Jaya Bheri], jagame maaya, bratuke maaya[Devadasu],chitaaru kommanu mithaayi potlam[Kanya Sulkam],andame aaanandam[Brathuku Teruvu],ninna kanipinchindi, nannu muripinchindi[Rani Ratna Prabha], deva deva dhavaalachala mandira[Bhukailas], raamuni avataaram ravikula somuni avataaram[Bhukailas],mudda banthi poovulo[Mooga Manasulu], 'Paadutha teeyaga challaga'[Mooga Manasulu] etc. are still inimitable. His voice certainly aided great actors like NTR and ANR in accomplishing success in their career during those days. Also, he cleverly modulated his voice to suit the respective hero. He added comic touch to his voice when he played back for comedians like Sri Relangi. He played back for all of the leading heroes during his era. His excellent rendition of famous 'seetha swayam vara sath kadha' in the film 'Vaagdaanam', speaks of his expertise in harikatha form of art. His 'police enkata swamy, ninu nenu maruvalenu ra', 'atha leni kodalutthamuraalu','swaatanthryame na janma hakkani chaatandi' depict his versatility in singing. He excelled in every form of music, be it classical, folk, harikatha, burrakatha, or yakshagaana. Any form of music, was his piece of cake.

His melodies with Jikki, Bhanumathi, Leela, Suseela and Janaki are still popular and will be, for many more years to come. - 'oh devada, oh paaravathi'[Devadasu].'rajasekhara nee pai moju teeraledura[Anarkali], 'chiguraakulalo chilakamma[Donga Ramudu], 'haayi haayi ga aamani saage[Suvarna Sundari],'choopulu kalasina subhavela[Maya Bazar],'oohalu gusa gusa lade[Bandipotu],'nannu dochukunduvate vannela dorasaani[Gulebakaavali Katha], 'Prema yaatralaku brindaavanamu[Gundamma Katha]'aaduthu paaduthu pani chesthunte[Todi Kodallu],kalala alala pai telenu [Gulebakaavali Katha], nadi reyi ye jhaamulo[Rangula Raatnam] and many more.

Ghantasala sang under the music direction of Sri Subba Raman, Sri Ramachandra Rao, Sri Saluri Rajeswara Rao, Sri T.Chalapathi Rao, Sri.K.V.Mahadevan, Sri.T.V.Raju, Sri Galipenchala, Sri P.Adinarayana Rao and many more great composers. Himself as a music director, he gave opportunity to other singers in his movies whose songs became equally popular.' Prema kosamai valalo padene paapam pasivaadu' [V.J.Varma,Paataala Bhairavi], 'vivaaha bhojanammu, vinthaina vantakammu[Pithapuram, Mayabazar], bhali bhali bhali bhali deva, baagunnadaya nee maaya [Madhava Peddi, Mayabazar] are a few samples. Even Sri S.P.Balasubramanyam had the privilege of singing along with the chorus, in the movie 'Alibaba 40 Dongalu', under Ghantasala's composition. However, SPB had the opportunity to sing with Ghantasala only in two movies [in addition to the chorus song in 'Alibaba 40 Dongalu'] - 'Prati raatri vasantha raatri'[Ekaveera] and 'ennallo vechina udayam[Manchi Mitrulu].

Another important asset of Ghantasala was his momentous back ground score. Consider movies like Maya bazaar, Gundamma Katha or Bandipotu, his BGM was pertinent to the scenes and it fluctuated according to the intensity of the scene.

Ghantasala appeared on the silver screen in 'Seetha Rama Jananam', 'Tyagayya' and 'Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam'. He even produced three movies - Paropakaaram, Sontah Vooru and Bhaktha Raghunath.

Ghantasala spread his charisma all over the world by giving musical concerts in USA and Europe. The Indian government felicitated him with 'Padmasri' award, however, the Gaanagandharva certainly deserved much more than that. Ghantasala's Bhagavadgeetha was recorded during his last stages, and he spent day and night making it a commendable album. He sang the verses, and recited the meaning at the end of each verse. His passion for music let him carve a niche for himself in the film industry, however, his health deteriorated due to his excessive strain. The voice turned silent on February 11, 1974 and the great singer left for heavenly abode forever. His ardent fans' thirst still remains unquenched, despite having relished the flavor of more than 10,000 songs of the great singer in various languages. For this Yuga, there could be no other Gaanagandharva, than Sri Ghantasala.

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