Music makes me happy, says Vijay Kumar Balla, the man behind the song Sittarala Sirapadu

VISAKHAPATNAM

Age is no barrier for pursuing one’s passion. Ask 56-year-old Visakhapatnam resident Vijay Kumar Balla, the man who penned the song Sittarala Sirapadu in the hit movie Ala Vaikunthapuramuloo, and he would concur.

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Vijay said, “Writing songs and poems have been my passion since my childhood, but my life changed when Ala Vaikunthapuramuloo director Trivikram Srinivas’s team asked me to write a song in Uttarandhra dialect.”

Mr. Vijay, a former LIC officer, took it as a challenge. The first draft, however, was rejected by the directorial team. He then revised the lyrics by taking into account the requirements of the the team, and the result was a blockbuster hit that topped the charts for many days.

Mr. Vijay was born and brought up in Odisha’s Jeypore. After graduating with B.Com (Hons), he completed his LLB and also did a post-graduation in psychology. He worked in different capacities in LIC, including as trainer at its training centre. He continues to teach behavioural economics and offer counselling.

“I have been interested in theatre and folk music since my childhood and also performed in several stage plays. Probably that was my latent talent, which I realised later,” he said. Though he spent two years pursuing classical music, he said that he was always inclined towards folk music.

He added that he already worked for two other movies, the latest being Krishna Vamsi’s Ranga Marthanda. He had also written a few songs for a number of private albums, the recent one being Maa Yasa Basha Godavari. “Music makes me happy and complete. Now that I am retired, I devote my entire time for it,” he said.