Veteran south Indian music composer M S Viswanathan, who rendered tunes to over 1,500 films in Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu, died here on Tuesday after a prolonged illness. He was 87.
Known as MSV within the film fraternity, Viswanathan was recently admitted to a private hospital for age related ailments. Sources said his condition deteriorated early on Tuesday and the end came at 4:15 am. Though his maiden film was “Jennova” starring M G Ramachandran, MSV shot to fame through Sivaji Ganeshan’s “Panam” in 1952.
His popularity further increased after he joined hands with fellow composer T K Ramamoorthy. The duo composed music for more than 80 Tamil films for over a decade.
The king of light music, MSV also worked with four chief ministers, including J Jayalalitha, M Karunanidhi, the late N T Rama Rao and M G Ramachandran.
Born in Elapulli taluk in the Palakkad district of Kerala, Viswanathan had humble beginnings. But with a natural talent for music, MSV stole the limelight in his very first stage performance.
Apart from composing music, Viswanathan also acted in several Tamil films like Kaadhal Mannan, Kaathala Kaathala with Kamal Haasan and Karthik's Rojavanam. He also acted in television serials.
Soon after the AIADMK came to power, Jayalalitha felicitated Viswanathan and honoured him with the title “Film music king”. Jayalalitha, a yesteryear actor, recalled that she had sung songs, including the hit “O meri dilruba” in the Tamil film “Suriya Gandhi”, besides others.
MSV is one among the few music directors in the country who has the credit of singing more than 200 songs.