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

playback singer A playback singer, as they are usually known in South Asian cinema, or ghost singer in Western cinema, is a singer whose performance is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and the performers lip-sync the ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, harmonium player,

Lyricist A lyricist is a writer who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income derives ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

known for his works in South cinema, and

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

. His major chunk of work has been in

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

and Telugu languages, though he sang many songs in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

too. He has garnered the Kannada Rajyotsava Prashasti, 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 ...

Award, and the Madhavapeddi Satyam 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 speaking Brahmin musical family Prathivadhi Bhayankara Phanindraswamy and Seshagiriamma as their younger son in

Kakinada Kakinada (; formerly known as Cocanada) is a Port, port city and municipal corporation in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Situated along the Bay of Bengal, it serves as the headquarters of Kakinada district and is a prominent economic and c ...

East Godavari district East Godavari is a district in the Coastal Andhra region of Andhra Pradesh, India. Its district headquarters is at Rajamahendravaram. Geography This district is surrounded by: * North East: Alluri Sitharama Raju district * North West: Eluru ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

. 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 (BCom or B Com) is an undergraduate degree in commerce, accounting, mathematics, economics, and management-related subjects. The degree is mainly offered in Commonwealth nations. Structure Bachelor of Commerce The Bac ...

degree and then passed the ''Hindi Visharad'' from the Dakshina Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha.

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

Voice of Dr. Rajkumar

PBS has sung at least 300 super hit numbers for Rajkumar. The actor once described Sreenivas as his ''Shàreera'' (voice in Kannada) while he himself was a mere ''Sharira'' (body in Kannada), summing up how some of the best-known films of the actor are unimaginable without Sreenivas lending his voice. Until 1974, Sreenivas was Rajkumar's most frequent singing voice in films. However, once when Sreenivas was not available to sing for the movie Sampattige Sawaal, Composer G K Venkatesh encouraged Rajkumar to sing the song ''Yaare Koogadali'' that was supposed to be sung by Sreenivas. With that song, Rajkumar restarted his singing career, which had stopped after the movie Ohileshwara. Thus began his journey as the most famous actor-singer that Kannada film industry has ever seen.

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,

Vani Jairam Vani Jairam (born Kalaivani; 30 November 1945 – 4 February 2023) was an Indian playback singer in Indian cinema. She is fondly referred to as the "'' Meera of modern India''" Vani's career started in 1971 and has spanned over five decades. ...

and K. J. Yesudas.

Awards

* The second highest award of

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

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, Hampi,

awarded by the governor of Karnataka * Tamil Nadu State Film Honorary Award - Kalaivanar Award in 2002

Filmography

Tamil songs

Death

Sreenivas died of a massive

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

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 Writers from East Godavari district Performers of Hindu music Sanskrit-language singers Film musicians from Andhra Pradesh 2013 deaths 20th-century Indian male singers