NaChaKi: Your debut film, ANR-S. Varalakshmi starrer Sati Savitri, released in 1957. It's been 51 years since then (until 2008 when the interview was done). Do you regularly follow films and the film music still, though you are not really directly associated with movies any more?
BMK: I don't watch movies so much, but I do that for relaxing myself sometimes. One can relax by experiencing things one cannot do oneself. Talking about music or listening to a song is not relaxing to me... like a doctor would get bored if you talk to him about medicines and diseases! Things that I cannot do... things like fighting, particularly where a skinny hero can hit a well-built fighter ...such things I can relax with. Mythological films... social films with the same problems that we have in daily life, love scenes and so on... such things are not as relaxing to me thus! ...About the transformation in films, I can say technique has improved a lot. When I acted as Narada (in Bhakta Prahlada, 1967), for instance, I had to stand on a stool without proper balancing, and I go up (into the "sky") as someone raises it up on a jack. I precariously stand there with a fear that I'd fall off the stool but I should not show it in my face - I should instead sing with a smiling face! ...It's not the case now. Someone else dubs and we can simply give the right expression. Even in music, things are lot easier due to technique today. Back then, we had to sing the whole line or stanza if we made mistake with one letter. Now, they can mix and match bits and pieces and engineer the best output.

NaChaKi: What do you think about the transition in film music through the decades?
BMK: One important thing to keep in mind is that film music is only important for the film and nothing else. Thus, today's music is transformed according to the genre of movies releasing today. Social movies^* are ruling the roost now. (saanghika chitraalu today are nearly all the movies we watch now, unlike the past when mythological, folkloric, and historical movies were more common and "social movies" had to be known by that name for a lack of a better word, and that continues today. - Ed.) And, music today just follows suit, like music of the past followed the themes of the movies back then too.

NaChaKi: What do you think of changing raaga-s or using anyaswara-s in film songs?
BMK: What does changing a raaga really mean, when the changes make it another raaga nonetheless? I mastered 4000 raaga-s and that seems a lot, but there can exist more than 2 lakh raaga-s! A film scene or song demands a tune, not a raaga. All that matters is whether the tune suits the scene/song, whether the singer rendered it appreciably, whether the lyric is appreciable, and whether it all fits well together. There's no point in worrying about it more than that!

NaChaKi: I believe it's more common to write the lyric first and tune next in the filmdom and in classical music too... Even tyaagaraaja first wrote lyric for his compositions except for ghana pancharatna kRti-s...
BMK: No, all vaaggEyakaara-s (people who can write and compose their own songs, such as tyaagaraaja, annamaachaarya, et al.) get both tune (swaram) and lyric (saahityam) at the same time. It's only that we are singing the pancharatna kRti-s that way.

NaChaKi: Oh, thanks for clarifying! As a vaaggEyakaara yourself, do you write your lyrics before, after, or along with your tunes? What's your comment on the current process in the films where the tune comes first?
BMK: The swaram (musical notation) is like the spelling of a word. You don't need to remember W-O-R-D particularly but it comes to you just like that when you speak. In case you forget it one day, that's when you need the spelling. The musical notes also serve the same purpose, generally speaking, because there'd be a lot of tunes and you sometimes need a way to remember or recollect them. I write both musical notes and lyrics at the same time too, like I said. But, in films, sometimes good lyrics are tuned and sometimes good tunes are written to. It's again a case-by-case choice.

NaChaKi: You first composed for a Telugu film Sati Savitri...
BMK: Hmm, no! I wasn't one of the music directors for the film.

NaChaKi: The film's titles list D. Baburao, Master Venu, S. Rajeswara Rao, Mallik, J. Lakshminarayana, and you as the music directors.
BMK: No, I didn't compose for the film. S. Rajeswara Rao was the music director, and (his elder brother) S. Hanumantha Rao was his assistant. There were classical songs in the film for which we all sat together to compare notes and make minor changes to a tune sometimes, but I didn't really work as a music director!

NaChaKi: Hmm, that's news to me! ...Then, my question would be why didn't you ever compose for a Telugu film?
BMK: (Quips) No one offered me (smiles)!

NaChaKi: You did work in Kannada, though...
BMK: Yes, and even won a President Award for a Kannada film as the Best Music Director (Madhavacharya), and the Best Playback Singer (for Hamsageethe), and even the Best Classical Singer (S.V. Narayana Swamy Rao National Award). There's no one else who got all three awards! ...In Telugu, I just got offers as a playback singer!

NaChaKi: We have very less films made in Sanskrit, and you worked for Aadi Sankaracharya and Bhagavadgeeta as music director...
BMK: No, I only worked for Aadi Sankaracharya. I didn't work for Bhagavadgeeta.

NaChaKi: Oh okay! I found the information on several websites on the Internet and took it for a fact. What's the latest movie that you sang for?
BMK: I have sung for a Malayalam film in 2007 or so. That's the last. And there's a Telugu art film titled Pravaaham, which didn't start its shoot yet. I sang for that one too. (That apparently didn't seem to have reached completion yet. -Ed.)

NaChaKi: Did you move away from the film industry by choice?
BMK: I kept at a distance when I was near it and I am closer to it when I am away from it (laughs). ...A lot of film personalities love me and respect me. Since I sang in the same time as Ghantasala, my co-singers from those times such as P. Susheela, S. Janaki, R. Balasaraswathi Devi, etc. call me guruvugaaru and still respect me the same even now and we meet often now. Back then, I just went to the recording theater to sing and leave, since I was busy with my own jobs or concerts and so on. But, today, we all reminsce the past and spend a lot of good times together.

NaChaKi: In Telugu, you acted in Bhakta Prahlada and also made an appearance in Megha Sandesam. Did you act in other languages?
BMK: I appeared like that several times. But, I acted in the lead role in a Malayalam flick titled Sandhya Kendina Sindooram with Seema. (In the Tamil film kathai that released early this year, he appeared as himself.)

NaChaKi: How come you didn't continue to act in Telugu? You were one of the few people who played the role of Narada well...
BMK: They didn't like me apparently (smiles). ...Playing the role of Narada was a mistake in a way, because people came to me later too for the same role and I didn't want to repeat the act ...because Narada doesn't have a heroine (laughs)! I wanted to act in any role with a heroine but probably no heroine accepted to act beside me (smiles)!

NaChaKi: Is it true that you were considered for Sankaraabharanam as a playback singer but that it didn't materialize for some reason? I was hardly two years then and thus am curious to know the facts now that I am talking to you.
BMK: It's true that they thought it'd be good if I sing the songs in the film. But then, I was away for two months then on a foreign tour and they couldn't keep things waiting apparently. ...Balu, who's like my own son (pointed at his own son in whose house this interview was going on), can sing well, and he did sing very well too. I am happy that he sang so well!

NaChaKi: When Sankaraabharanam was released 20 years ago, parents enthusiastically joined  their children in music institutes. But, today, not many musicians are seen in A.P. given this fact too. Where do you think did all those music students vanish?
BMK: Such movies should be made frequently to keep the wave going. One such trendsetting movie cannot continue to inspire forever. ...The film is not about music itself but is about the life and journey of a musician. All the events shown in the film were incidents in my own life! The only difference is that the hero dies in the film and I am still alive (laughs)! When a film is made realistically like that, it'd have a good impression among all sections of audience. ...Even I liked the songs nearly completely - all except the SankaraabharaNam raagam used in the film! I told this to Viswanath too, that the raaga was not tuned properly. ...I have not watched the film until now. They haven't invited me and thus I never watched it. I have a bad habit that I don't do anything uninvited. I don't even visit a temple uninvited! Even God should call me (through the temple's Executive Officer or someone) or otherwise I have my God with me always and I can pray anyway.

NaChaKi: What do you think about the current status of classical music in the society. You hail from Andhra Pradesh but live in Tamilnadu, and can you please comment on the oft-heard statement that classical music enjoys a better respect and status in Tamilnadu than in Andhra Pradesh?
BMK: What's state got to do with music? Feelings and emotions are common to all human beings, and so is music! ...In times before independence, only Madras had a radio station in south India back then. Thus, it became a center for music and arts, as every artiste in south India was invited to perform for the radio, and for other music events conducted in the city. Now, I see that a lot of competitions are being held here in A.P. too, and in Telugu TV channels. There's even decent earnings in the field of music here now, unlike in the past. In the past, one programme in the radio was equivalent to a hundred concerts in terms of exposure, and now 10 minutes of TV presence can bring much more exposure all over the world! Thus, we need to make sure of good quality now. There are a lot of institutes and teachers teaching music now, and people of all ages are enjoying concerts too - the auditoria are being filled completely for all concerts even here in A.P. - and even music festivals are being conducted! I am very happy about all this.

NaChaKi: In the last ten years, the trend of music-based films and films on vaaggEyakaara-s started in Telugu, with films like Annamayya, Sree Ramadasu, Swarabhishekam, and a film based on Tarigonda Vengamamba is being planned (at the time of this interview), and so on. Do you have any suggestions for such moviemakers?
BMK: It's not in my nature to give unsolicited advice to anyone.

NaChaKi: Let's say someone asked, or that I'm making a film and approached you now (smile).
BMK: Then I wouldn't definitely tell it now. When you publish this interview, it'd be open to all! Nothing should be done for free in the film world (laughs)!

NaChaKi: Do you like any particular film music director?
BMK: There wouldn't be any. Every music director has ups and downs and one film might click but the next might not. So, there cannot be one particular music director that I say I like...

NaChaKi: But, people usually say "This man experiments well", or have some other ways of measuring success and talents...
BMK: Every movie is a creation of several people including but not limited to artistes, director, writers, singers, music director, and editor. Every artiste is a creator! Classical music people like me cannot create so much stuff as the music directors in films. I was probably an exception since I worked for films too as a music director.

NaChaKi: Since you mention that you're singing even right now for Pravaaham, do you intend to sing for mainstream films too, if you're asked? Do you have that kind of time or interest still?
BMK: Oh, sure! I should like the situation, the cast on the screen for who I am singing the playback, the music, and the lyrics. If I like all these, I am even ready to sing everyday! (He had sung in the 2009 Malayalam film Pasanga too, since the time this interview was done.)

NaChaKi: That's great! Do you think you're limited by language or would you say music has no language?
BMK: Language is no bar. I have sung for Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali films, and even sung in languages other than Telugu in concerts too. Most Malayalam music directors are my disciples too and thus I sang more there... and less in Telugu itself!

NaChaKi: I remember, when you mention disciples, something that I read somewhere: Is film music director Susarla Dakshinamurthy your classmate in music, when you both learnt music from his grandfather by the same name?
BMK: No, I  learnt from Parupalli Ramakrishnayya Panthulu gaaru who was a disciple of Susarla Dakshinamurthy (Sr.) gaaru. (Susarla Dakshinamurthy Sr. gaaru was a disciple of a direct disciple of saint tyaagaraaja. It was in a felicitation to Sree Susarla Sr. that Sree Balamuralikrishna performed his first concert, in 1938! -Ed.)

NaChaKi: A.R. Rahman is probably the most popular film music icon today in India. What's your opinion about his music? Did he ever meet you?
BMK: He's doing what's needed for films. He seems to be more concentrating on western music now and trying to blend them creatively. He's a nice boy and I bless him to be more popular. (Rahman did not win his Oscars by then. -Ed.) ...He meets me regularly often. (Rahman learned music from Susarla Dakshinamurthy Jr. for a brief period, and that's why only Rahman featured in the question particularly. -Ed.)