Top actor Rajinikanth and a host of others have appealed to fans and the general public to join a mass prayer scheduled to be held at 6 pm on Thursday to pray for the speedy recovery of veteran playback singer S P Balasubrahmanyam. As the 74-year old star singer battles COVID-19 at a
hospital here with the support of ventilator and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation support (ECMO), a heart-lung assistance machine, Rajinikanth said: '...let us pray together for SPB's recovery from 6 to 6.05 pm." The top star hailed the singer as "Padum Nila," which means a 'singing moon,' a pointer to Balasubrahmanyam's cool, captivating voice and urged his fans and people to join the prayer.
Veteran Tamil film director Bharathirajaa who had appealed to people to observe a one-minute silent prayer at 6pm today and then play a song sung by Balasubrahmanyam praying for his speedy recovery, urged television channels to join the prayer by broadcasting a song of the star singer at 6 pm. "My friend Padum Nila should recover and that is the idea behind the mass prayer," Bharathirajaa said.
Cine Musicians Union president Dhina said SPB is a senior member of the body and appealed to everyone to pray from their respective places for the singer's quick recovery.
Veteran film producer Kalaipuli S Dhanu wrote a poem praising the sweetness of SPB's voice and said the seven 'swaras' were waiting for him and asked people to join the prayer.
Actors Radhakrishnan Parthiban, Vivek, Silambarasan, Manobala and veteran actress Saroja Devi were among the others who appealed to people to join the prayers. Vivek said: "Prayer is very powerful and when crores of fans come together and pray it has a special force. For our SPB sir, let us pray for a minute."
Music composer G V Prakash Kumar, "Let's come together and pray for speedy recovery of legendary singer SPB. Be a part of mass prayers on 20 August, 6 pm from your respective places. Let's make sure that his voice is heard again.#GetWellSoonSPBSIR."
Bharathirajaa had said music directors Ilayaraja, A R Rahman, actors Rajinikanth, Kamal Haasan and others, lyricist Vairamuthu, directors, musicians, members of Film Employees Federation of South India, producers, theatre owners, distributors besides billions of SPB fans across the globe
would sing SPB songs at their respective places and pray for his recovery.
The singer was admitted to MGM Healthcare on August 5 after he tested positive for coronavirus and he suffered a setback on August 13, prompting doctors to put him on life support.
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