P. B. Sreenivas

Prathivadi Bhayankara Sreenivas was born on the 22nd of September in the year 1930. He passed away in the year 2013 on 14th of April. He was a very famous playback singer of our country. Born in Kakinada, Andhra Pradesh, he has sung in almost all the languages in India. We can also find his songs in the Hindi language. He has also sung in Kannada films, Konkani films, Hindi films and much more. In his career he had sung over three thousand songs. He was mostly known for his contribution to the Tamil, Kannada and Telugu film Industries. He sang most of his songs in Kannada, though he has sung in all the main languages in India.

He died in Chennai at the age of 82. P. B. Sreenivas was born to P. B. Phanindraswamy. His mother’s name was Seshagiriamma. His mother was a musician whereas his father used to work in civil platforms. His father had a dream of making Sreenivas a Government Officer. Sreenivas collected his Bachelor of Commerce Degree, and just after that, he passed the Hindi Spreading exam from the Dakshin Bharat Hindi Prachar Sabha. He got most of his lessons in Indian Classical Music from his mother. During his childhood days, he used to hear songs played on the radio, and his favorite singer was Mohammed Rafi.

His uncle was a professional singer as well as a drama artist. When he went to Gemini Studios, one of his friendly relations, E. S. Sastry who was a brilliant violin player and a member of the studio took him to meet the owner of the Studio, S. S. Vasan. There, he sang a very famous song originally sung my M. Rafi, his idol, in the film Deedar in 1951. His song immediately grabbed everyone’s eyes. Sreenivas made his debut as a playback singer in one of the productions of Gemini studio in Hindi.

The name of the film was Mr. Sampat. He has sung beside singers like G. Dutta, S. Begum, and Jikki. All his songs in the movie got nationwide appreciation. One of his songs with G. Dutt in the film Mr. Sampat titled Aji Hum Bharat Ke Naari got some special mentions and awards as well. He has sung in numerous films all throughout his career, and it will be impossible to mention each and every song that he has sung. His contribution to the Indian music can never be forgotten. His untimely death has left us devoid of a precious jewel.