M.S. Viswanathan
| M.S.Viswanathan | |
|---|---|
M. S. Viswanathan
|
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| Born |
Manayangth Subramanian Viswanathan 24 June 1928 Palakkad, Madras Presidency, British India |
| Died | 14 July 2015 (aged 87) Chennai, India |
| Cause of death | Kidney cancer |
| Other names | M.S.V. / "Mellesai Mannar" |
| Occupation |
Film score composer; singer; actor music director |
| Years active | 1940–2015 |
| Spouse(s) | Janaki (1951–2012) |
| Children | 4 sons & 3 daughters |
| Parent(s) |
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| Musical career | |
| Instruments | Vocals (playback singing), keyboard/harmonium/piano |
| Website | msvtimes |
| Notable instruments | |
| Vocals, Harmonium | |
Film score composer; singer; actor
Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (24 June 1928 – 14 July 2015), also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director and composer. He was popularly known as Mellisai Mannar (Tamil for "The King of Light Music"). He composed songs in 1200 films across languages - Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi. He worked primarily in Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. He also acted and sung in a few Tamil films. The Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa conferred the Thirai Isai Chakravarthy (Tamil for "The Emperor of Cine Music") title on him in August 2012 and presented him with 60 gold coins and a new car.
Viswanathan composed film music together with composer and violinist T. K. Ramamoorthy from the 1950s to 1965, as Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy for 100 films and from 1965 until 2014 he worked independently as a composer for 1100 films composing more than 15000 songs.
M S Viswanathan was born in Palakkad Iyer family on 24 June 1928 to Manayangath Subramanian and Narayanikutty (or Naanikutty) in Elappully village in Palakkad, Kerala, India. His father died when Viswanathan was four years old, and his mother decided to kill him, his sister and herself as an escape from abject poverty and lack of support. He was saved at the last minute by his grandfather. His grandfather Krishnan was a warden at the central jail of Kannur. After death of his father, his family moved from Palakkad to Kannur to stay with his jailor uncle. As a child, he sold refreshments in a movie theatre without any pay, so he could listen to the music in the films. He had a part in the film Kannagi produced by Jupiter Pictures.
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