In no time, she became famous in Madras.

Soon, the Tamil film world noticed the beautiful girl with the golden voice. Director K Subramaniam -- danxder Padma Subramaniam's father -- offered her a role in his nationalist film Sevasadanam.

It was a turning point in her life. During the shooting of the film, she met a marketing executive from Ananda Vikatan magazine called Sadasivam. The friendship matured into romance and they got married in 1940 in Tiruneermalai. Sadasivam was already married and had children.

After her marriage, Subbulakshmi was cut off from her family. Perhaps Sadasivam did not want her to have any ties with them.

Subbulakshmi surrendered her life to Sadasivam. It was total submission. He decided what she would sing, where she would sing, what she would say and who her friends would be. But she never complained. It was he who decided that she would sing more bhakti songs. It is true that if not for him, she would not have attained the kind of glory and fame she acquired in her life.

Also see: Bharat Ratna conferred on M S Subbulakshmi