Prathivadhi Bhayankara Sreenivas (22 September 1930 – 14 April 2013) widely known as P. B. Sreenivas was an Indian

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

, composer,

harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. T ...

player, lyricist, littérateur, and poet known for his works in South cinema, and

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

. His major chunk of work has been in Kannada, Tamil, and Telugu languages. He has garnered the Kannada

Rajyotsava Prashasti The Rajyotsava Prashasti or Rajyotsava Awards, the second highest civilian honor of the Karnataka state of India are conferred annually by the Karnataka Government on the occasion of the establishment of the state on 1 November celebrated as t ...

, the Tamil

Kalaimamani The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of ...

Award, and the

Madhavapeddi Satyam Madhavapeddi Satyam (11 March 1922 – 18 December 2000) was an Indian playback singer and actor who predominantly worked in Telugu cinema. He entered films as a singer-actor in Y. V. Rao's Tamil-Hindi bilingual movie ''Ramadas'' in the year 194 ...

Award by the Andhra Siva Foundation, for his contributions to music and cinema. In his honor, ''Sri Kala Sudha Telugu Association'' of Chennai, instituted the ''P. B. Sreenivas Mahapurush Award'' to honor veteran singers.

Early life

Prathivadhi Bhayankara Sreenivas was born into a

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

speaking musician family of Prathivadhi Bhayankara Phanindraswamy and Seshagiriamma as their younger son in

Kakinada Kakinada (List of renamed places in India, formerly called Kakinandiwada, Coringa, and Cocanada; ) is the List of cities in Andhra Pradesh by population, sixth largest city of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra P ...

East Godavari district East Godavari is a district in the Coastal Andhra region of Andhra Pradesh, India. Its district headquarters is at Rajahmundry. As of census 2011, it became the most populous district of the state with a population of 5,151,549. In the Madras Pre ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

. His father was a civil servant and his mother was a musician. His father wanted him to become a government officer and Sreenivas was awarded a

Bachelor of Commerce A Bachelor of Commerce (abbreviated BComm or BCom; also, ''baccalaureates commercii'') is an undergraduate degree in business, usually awarded in Canada, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Ireland, New Zealand, Ghana, South Africa, Myanmar, ...

degree and then passed the ''Hindi Visharad'' from the

Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha is an organisation whose main goal is to improve Hindi literacy among the non-Hindi speaking people of South India. The headquarters are located at Thanikachalam Road, T. Nagar, Chennai. The organisation was ...

Musical career

His uncle, Kidambi Krishnaswamy, was a drama artist and a singer. When Sreenivas was 12, Krishnaswamy gave him a chance to sing in a drama. Later, Sreenivas, a trained harmonium player and singer, went to Gemini Studios, Madras.

Emani Sankara Sastry Emani Sankara Sastry (23 September 1922 – 1987), was a renowned Veena player of Carnatic music. Life sketch Emani Sankara Sastry was born on 23 September 1922 in Draksharamam, India. He came from a family of celebrated classical musicians. H ...

, a

veena The ''veena'', also spelled ''vina'' ( sa, वीणा IAST: vīṇā), comprises various chordophone instruments from the Indian subcontinent. Ancient musical instruments evolved into many variations, such as lutes, zithers and arched harps.< ...

player, was one of the residing musicians. He introduced Sreenivas to S. S. Vasan, the owner of Gemini Studios. There, Sreenivas sang a super hit song sung by Mohammed Rafi, his favourite singer. It was "Huye Hum Jinke Liye Barbad", from '' Deedar'' (1951), composed by

Naushad Ali Naushad Ali (25 December 1919 – 5 May 2006) was an Indian music director for Hindi films. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest and foremost music directors of the Hindi film industry. He is particularly known for popularising the ...

, which landed him the opportunity to become professional playback singer.

Biography on PBS

The biography titled ''Madhurya Saarvabhowma Dr. P. B. Srinivas-Naadayogiya Sunaadayaana'' (penned by R. Srinath, Publishers: Surabhi Prakashana, Bengaluru) was released on 7 May 2013 at the Palace Grounds, Bangalore by the singers

S. P. Balasubrahmanyam Sripathi Panditaradhyula Balasubrahmanyam (4 June 1946 – 25 September 2020), also referred to as SPB or SP Balu or Balu, was an Indian playback singer, television presenter, actor, music composer, dubbing artist, and film producer. He is wi ...

Vani Jairam Vani Jairam (born as Kalaivani on 30 November 1945), also credited as Vani Jayaram, is an Indian singer. She is best known as a playback singer in South Indian cinema. Vani's career started in 1971 and has spanned over five decades. She has do ...

and K. J. Yesudas.

Awards

* The second highest award of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

State, the Kannada Rajyothsava Award awarded by the chief minister of the state * The Tamil Nadu state's honorary

Award * Dr. Rajkumar Souhardha award given by the super star's family *The prestigious ''Karnataka Nadoja Award'' - constituted by

Kannada University Kannada University, also called Hampi Kannada University or Hampi University or Kannada University, Hampi, is a research-oriented public university in Hampi, Karnataka, founded in 1991 by the Government of Karnataka through the Kannada Universit ...

Hampi Hampi or Hampe, also referred to as the Group of Monuments at Hampi, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Hampi (town), Hampi town, Vijayanagara district, east-central Karnataka, India. Hampi was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire i ...

awarded by the

governor of Karnataka The Governor of Karnataka is the constitutional head of the Indian state of Karnataka. The governor is appointed by the president of India for a term of five years, and holds office at the president's pleasure. The governor is ''de jure'' head ...

Tamil Nadu State Film Honorary Award The Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Honorary Award given by the ''Tamil Nadu State Government'' as part of its annual Tamil Nadu State Film Awards for Tamil cinema personalities who contributed in developing the Tamil cinema in India. Arignar A ...

- Kalaivanar Award in 2002

Death

Sreenivas died of Heart attack at home in Chennai on 14 April 2013 at the age of 82. He was cremated on the next day. He was survived by his wife and children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Srinivas, P. B. 1930 births Telugu people Kannada playback singers Tamil playback singers Telugu playback singers Malayalam playback singers Indian male playback singers Bollywood playback singers Harmonium players 20th-century Indian singers Singers from Andhra Pradesh People from Kakinada Performers of Hindu music Sanskrit-language singers Film musicians from Andhra Pradesh 2013 deaths 20th-century Indian male singers