The postal department released a special cover to mark the birth anniversary of the well-known music composer Vijaya Bhaskar.
September 19 (Thursday) marked his birth centenary. A host of musicians and admirers of Vijaya Bhaskar gathered at the Meghdoot Auditorium at the General Post Office, Bengaluru, and fondly recalled the time they had spent with him.
Vijaya Bhaskar was legendary filmmaker Puttana Kanagal’s favourite composer, and when they teamed up, they created great cinema, said Rajendra Kumar, chief postmaster general, Karnataka. He recalled how, as a little boy, he was in tears watching Puttanna’s Gejje Pooje, for which Vijaya Bhaskar had scored the music. “I was too young to understand the film, but I was moved just watching how the rest of my family was reacting to the film,” he said.
Hamsalekha, well-known music composer, said Vijaya Bhaskar and G K Venkatesh were now on the syllabus of the film scoring course at his institute. “Vijaya Bhaskar never gave in to trendy film styles, and never gave up on the simplicity of tunes,” he said. Many of Vijaya Bhaskar’s tunes go by the principles of sugama sangeeta, a form developed and celebrated in Karnataka as an alternative to film music, he explained.
Film historian N S Sridhara Murthy analysed some of Vijaya Bhaskar’s hit songs, and recalled how, in the ’90s. The composer had requested him to chronicle his life and times. “We spent many months where he shared his memories,” he said. The composer died in 2002 before he could complete narrating his story, but fortunately, the notes remain, Sridhara Murthy said.
Vijaya Bhaskar, who scored music for about 700 films, has delivered some of the biggest hits in Kannada cinema. Velu of Lahari Recording said his company had curated and released two compilations of his music on Thursday. At the well-attended event, B R Chaya sang the hit ‘Hindustanavu endoo mareyada’ from the film ‘Amrutha Galige.’ Vijaya Bhaskar’s daughters Sankari Ananth and Mangala Gowri and their families honoured the speakers. The special cover, priced at Rs 25, is available at the philately counters.