Playback singers Afsal and Anoop Sankar on sharing stage with their idol and his music
As a young boy growing up in Kochi, Afsal would rush back every evening from school to his brother’s shop that sold audio cassettes. It was the Tamil songs sung by S.P. Balasubrahmanyam that he would continuously listen to.
More than three decades later, he still swears by SPB. The playback singer says he sings more of SPB’s hits than his own in his stage shows.
“That is what the people want and I am only happy to oblige them,” Afsal told The Hindu on Friday. “He has influenced me greatly as a singer and he will continue to be an inspiration for many like me, though he may no longer be with us.”
Music shows
Afsal remembers the kind of frenzy SPB’s popular songs generated at live music shows across Kerala. “He was the singer who made Tamil music popular here,” he said. “All…