Ghantasala: His Voice And Music Embodied Telugu Culture And Mores

Two years ago, at a spanky airport in an European city, I was waiting for the boarding announcement of my flight. 

It was early morning on a weekday, and the airport wasn't all that crowded and it all seemed relatively silent, as many were probably still feeling groggy at that early hour.

Suddenly, piercing the quietude, a man's mobile perked up with a melancholic lilt in Telugu. He frantically reached for the phone nestled inside his black jacket to sush it and he looked at me sitting a few seats away sheepishly. "Forgot to put the phone on silent mode," he said, looking at me almost apologetically.

"Ghantasala?" I asked almost non sequitur. But he knew what I was referring to. Suddenly, his demeanour changed and a streak of smile filled his face. "You are also a Telugu?" he asked with the typical delight that tends to embrace us when we run into fellow Indians in distant lands. 

"No," I told him, "but the voice is well known even in my state."

"That is the greatness of his voice," he said, getting into the swim of things. "Unmistakable and always resonant."

He quickly became pally with me and introduced himself as a doctor who was in Europe for one of those typical conferences that senior medical personnel get invited to from time to time.

He also told me that it was his habit to have Ghantasala songs as his ringtone whenever he travelled abroad. "It helps me to not feel lost in a different country," he said and added "Ghantasala's voice and songs are filled with the ethos of our Telugu heritage."

He Echoed ‘Teluguness’ Everywhere 

SP Balasubramaniam may have been the more popular and flamboyant singer to have emerged from Andhra (and Telangana). But, for the majority of Telugu speaking people, especially from a certain generation, Ghantasala remains their voice of culture.

No other state, perhaps with the exception of Kerala (who swear by K J Yesudas), has a voice that becomes a metaphor for their traditions and mores. Not surprisingly, both the singers are referred to as 'gaana gandharva' in their respective states.

The present day generation may not know much about Ghantasala as he passed 50 years ago — 11 February, 1974 — at a relatively young age of 51.

But from the late 40s and early 50s till his untimely passing away, Ghantasala was the most prolific singer and music director in Telugu, who also managed to leave his mark in Tamil, Kannada and Hindi. But his voice, which was both majestic as well as flexible, seemed tailor-made for the inflexions of the Telugu language.

Each language has its own lilt and cadence, and Ghantasala's voice matched that of Telugu's. Or that is what is the considered opinion of his countless fans. 

Take this song, Lahiri Lahiri Lo from the famed Mayabazar (1957). This song was tuned by the veteran S Rajeswara Rao (after composing four songs he quit the film and the rest of the songs were composed by Ghantasala himself). Ghantasala's voice just glides effortlessly over lines set to Mohanam.

And contrast this with the throw and pomp of the other famous song Vivaha Bhojanambu. Save for the voice culture, it is almost as if two different singers have sung it. 

He Was The Voice Of ANR And NTR  

The other thing to note is the fact that in the first song you can easily visualise that it is meant for Nageswara Rao on screen, while the second one was tailored for the more rambunctious S V Ranga Rao.

Again, it is not as if Ghantasala has changed his voice. He has just tweaked his technique and delivery. And this embodies his success — understanding the situation and the actor on the screen.

There are countless examples to drive home this point, but I chose these two songs because they are very mainstream and their Tamil versions are no less popular.

Talking of Tamil, like the great T M Soundararajan who was the on-screen singing voice of two Tamil Superstars MGR and Sivaji Ganesan, for over two decades Ghantasala remained the voice of Telugu superstars ANR and NT Rama Rao. 

Consider this song in Bangaru Babu (1973), recorded a year before his demise. Ghantasala's voice is both robust and youthful to fit the needs of the romantic song.

But he was no one-trick pony. For the same ANR, he managed to rouse the listeners with his fervoured rendition of Naa Janma Bhoomi in Sipaayi Chinnaiah (1969). The intrinsic nationalist feeling in this song was something that Ghantasala would not have conjured up out of nowhere. He was forever filled up with it. As a youngster, he had to go to prison for participating in the Quit India Movement against the British. The nationalist spirit never left him till his death. 

But while Ghantasala consistently aced the love and pathos songs, he actually won his spurs with more classically-oriented numbers. Having been a fully trained Carnatic singer, he brought the same rigour to bear upon his film songs.

Take this ragamalika that begins so pristinely with Kambhoji in the film Sri Venkateswara Mahatyam (1960). This movie had 28 songs set to score by that veteran Pendyala Nageshwara Rao, and this one, singing the praise of Lord Venkateswara, is a glittering diamond. 

A Classical Singer And A Proud Nationalist

Ghantasala and Pendyala were a marriage made in musical heaven. This Darbari Kanada beaut in that iconic hit Jagadeka Veeruni Katha (1961) is a testimony to their innate understanding. 

Whatever be the song and its style, Ghantasala's strength was in singing it with the right emotion and bhava. That is why several decades after they were made, those numbers still remain fresh and resonant. 

It is impossible to prepare a list of Ghantasala's great songs, as there are literally hundreds and hundreds of them. (But this long compilation is a good place to start). He has sung, by a conservative estimate, over 10,000 songs across languages and he himself has scored music for over 100 movies. And in many of his films, all the songs were hits. 

There is a story in the southern film musical world. And this could be apocryphal. Anyway, one producer had reportedly asked a top music director to ensure that all songs in the film were hits. To which the sharp-tongued music director apparently retorted that only Ghantasala could give such a guarantee.

But to see Ghantasala as just a mere film singer is an enormous disrespect to his devotional singing. Aside from film, Ghantasala made and sang in myriad devotional albums, and they carried his stamp of sincerity and inimitable style. His rendition of Bhagavad Gita is a milestone in Telugu bhakti-oriented music world. 

It was Ghantasala who popularised Pushpa Vilapam of Jandhyala Papayya Shastri (Karunashri). The vinyl record that Ghantasala came out on this poetic form was a rage in the then unified Andhra Pradesh. 

His devotion and religious feeling forever remained strong, and his last recorded film song was for the film Yasoda Krishna. It was apt for the man who made Lord Vishnu songs popular among the Telugu speaking folks — he was the asthana vidwan of the Tirumala Tirupati Temple. 

His last recorded song though was for the documentary Bhadrachala Ramadasu Vaibhavam. He sang from his hospital bed. The next day the Lord took him away. Perhaps to listen to him from even closer quarters.

Though it is five decades since he passed away, Ghantasala and his music has not left us. Telugus all over the world fall back on his songs to be in touch with their inner Teluguness, as that doctor in Europe showed me two years ago.