Renowned
playback
singer
SP
Balasubrahmanyam
(SPB)
was
shocked
with
the
untimely
death
of
well-known
mandolin
player
U
Srinivas,
who
died
on
Friday
following
liver-related
problems
in
Chennai.
He
was
45.
Going
down
memory
lane,
the
singer
shared
how
he
first
met
the
late
musician,
who
had
come
to
him
to
learn
music.
Shocked
and
saddened
SP
Balasubrahmanyam
took
to
his
Facebook
to
share
his
grief
with
his
fans.
SPB
wrote:
"I
am
in
Hyderabad.
Heard
the
shocking
news
about
Mandolin
Srinivas's
demise.
Vasu
Rao,
music
director,
then
bass
Guitar
player,
brought
a
11-year-old-boy
from
Andhra
Pradesh
to
Gemini
studios
in
1980,
where
I
was
doing
the
background
score
for
'Hum
Paanch',
the
Hindi
film,
produced
by
Boney
Kapoor
and
directed
by
Late
Bapu."
Balasubrahmanyam
continued,
"(He)
Introduced
him
as
Srinivas,
who
played
cinema
songs
on
Mandolin.
On
my
request,
the
boy
played
a
song
from
(Telugu
film)
Sankarabharanam.
I
was
amazed
at
the
perfection
with
which
he
played
all
the
gamakas
on
the
tiny
instrument.
(Srinivas)
never
learnt
music
theoretically
and
could
not
read
and
write
notation
and
the
purpose
of
coming
to
Chennai
was
to
learn
classical
music."
He
posted,
"I
sang
the
theme
song
of
Hum
Paanch
couple
of
times,
he
heard
and
played
it
perfectly.
We
recorded
that
piece
and
used
it
in
the
film.
Rs.75
was
the
remuneration
for
a
mandolin
player
at
that
time.
Boney
paid
him
Rs.175."
Srinivas
performed
at
SPB's
sister's
wedding
by
taking
"only
the
incidental
expenses".
SPB
concluded
by
saying
Srinivas
was
a
"great
soul
who
elevated
Indian
classical
music
to
universal
level".