Veteran music director M.G. Radhakrishnan dead

Thiruvananthapuram, July 2 (IANS) Veteran music director M.G. Radhakrishnan died here Friday after prolonged illness. He was 70.

He was ailing for almost a year now and for the past one week he was in critical condition undergoing treatment for liver ailments at a private hospital here. He is survived by his wife and two children.

An expert in light music, it was he who introduced K.S. Chithra to the film world by giving her a chance in "Attahasam".

Beginning his career as a singer, he sang his first song in 1969 for "Kallichellama", but he felt his strength was in music direction and made his debut as a composer with director Aravindan's 1978 movie "Thampu". In his almost three-decade-long career, he composed music for more than 30 Malayalam films.

He was the favourite of ace directors like Bharatan, Priyadarshan, Padmarajan, Fazil, Venu Nagavally, and Shaji Kailas. His last film was director Santosh Sivan's "Ananthabhadram" in 2005.

Reacting to the demise of Radhakrishnan, Priyadarshan said: "In my first film itself, he composed the music and, if I am not wrong, he has scored the maximum number of films for me. We all feel that despite being a great performer, he did not get due recognition."

Many of the films for which he composed music became all-time hits of Malayalam film industry including, "Manichithrathazhu" and "Agnidevan".

In 1962, he joined All India Radio as a tambura artiste and went on to become the senior music composer (grade 1). It was he who scored the music for Kamala Suraiyya's verses in the album "Suraiyya Padunnu".

He won state film awards twice for the best music director.

His younger brother is M.G. Sreekumar, a prominent playback singer here.

Family sources indicate that the date of the funeral will be decided after Sreekumar returns from the US.