Kottayam: The maestro's violin has gone silent never to create magic again.
The violin was Balabhaskar’s constant companion since his childhood. The music prodigy, who died on Tuesday, scored music for film ‘Mangalyapalakku’ at the tender age of 17. The haunting and feet-thumping music flowing from his electric violin took the young generation by storm. He was also popular among people across generations.
For the last 25 years Balabhaskar regaled lakhs of people across hundreds of venues both in India and abroad with some enchanting music. His bewitching charm is etched in the minds of scores of music lovers who thronged to watch him play violin on stage.
Balabhaskar was equally at ease with both genres of music – western and Carnatic. Speaking on his experience with both styles of music Balabhaskar once said, “There is complete freedom in fusion music. There are no boundaries. But in Carnatic music you have to perform within a framework. I enjoy both.”
Always a student
Balabhaskar was never complacent and always tried to sharpen his music skills with relentless practice. He found time from his busy schedule to hone his skills under the watchful eyes of his uncle and violin exponent B Sasikumar.
The young violinist also made sure that he rehearsed properly even before a small event. “I always like to stretch myself and scale up my performance. I like to improve from what I did yesterday. For that practice without fail is the only option. This also gives me the much-needed impetus.”
The musical odyssey
Balabhaskar entered the film industry by scoring music for ‘Mangalya Pallakku’ (1998) when he was in his teens and his second film as a music director was ‘Kannadikadavu’. He was quick to realise that music direction was not his cup of tea. But 10 years later, in 2005, he directed some enthralling music for film ‘Moksham’.
Later, the violinist was instrumental in coming out with hundreds of music albums which had touched the hearts of many. His band “The Big Band” joined with the who’s who of the world music to the delight of music lovers across the world.
Wife Lakshmi all alone
With the passing away of Balabhaskar and daughter Tejaswini, his wife Lakshmi is all alone now. The couple were classmates at the University College, Thiruvananthapuram, and got married on December 16, 2000. Tejaswini, fondly known as Jani, was the apple of Balabhaskar’s eye. Lakshmi, who is under treatment, is unaware of the deaths of her husband and daughter as their car rammed a tree late last month.
