M. D. Parthasarathy (21 September 1910 – August 1963) was an Indian music composer and actor, who worked mainly in

Tamil cinema Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Ch ...

Musician

Parthasarathy was a "Sangeetha Bhushanam" of

Annamalai University The Annamalai University (AU) is a public state university in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. The sprawling campus offers courses of higher education in arts, science, engineering, management, humanities, agriculture, and physical education. ...

. During his period at this university veterans like Ponniah Pillai (of the

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of southern Indian religion, art ...

quartet family) and violinist and

Sangeetha Kalanidhi Sangita Kalanidhi () is the title awarded annually to a Carnatic musician by the Madras Music Academy. From 1929 to 1941, the award did not exist. The award was conceived in 1942 by Academy President K. V. Krishnaswami Iyer and on 1 January 1 ...

T.S. Sabesa Iyer taught there. After completing his course in the early 1930s, Parthasarathy went to

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

(Madras then). It was the time the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

talkie began to flourish. Most of the Talkies were produced with stories from the mythological epics. The actors came from the stage and from the Carnatic music world. Parthasarathy who was well trained in Carnatic music found a place easily in talkies.

Actor

Prominent stage actor and writer Vadivel Naicker spotted Parthasarathy when he was acting in a play of the amateur group of the veteran stage drama producer

Pammal Sambandha Mudaliar Pammal Vijayarangam Sambandham Mudaliar (1873–1964), who has been described as "the founding father of modern Tamil theatre", was a playwright, director, producer and actor of the late nineteenth- and early twentieth centuries. He was a recipi ...

. This led to Parthasarathy playing roles in films like ''Sakkubai'' (1934), ''Draupadi Vastrapaharanam'' (1934) and ''Srinivasa Kalyanam'' (this is the first Tamil film to be wholly made in Madras). But he is said to have come into his own with his interpretation of Hanuman in the film ''Garuda Garva Bhangam'' (1936).

Radio stint

Just when his cinematic career seemed to have hit a dead-end, Parthasarathy found work with

Tiruchi Tiruchirappalli (), also known as Trichy, is a major tier II city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Tiruchirappalli district. The city is credited with being the best livable and the cleanest city of Ta ...

Radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

as a staff artiste. He is said to have been very popular as an actor in

radio plays Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatised, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

. Later, after leaving the film industry for good, Parthasarathy joined AIR

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Music director

After a few years in radio, the film world beckoned him again. It was

S. S. Vasan Subramaniam Srinivasan (4 January 1904 – 26 August 1969), popularly known by his screen name S. S. Vasan, was an Indian journalist, writer, advertiser, film producer, director and business tycoon. He is the founder of the Tamil-language maga ...

calling him to be in-house music director for the

Gemini Gemini most often refers to: * Gemini (constellation), one of the constellations of the zodiac * Gemini (astrology), an astrological sign Gemini may also refer to: Science and technology Space * Gemini in Chinese astronomy, the Gemini constellat ...

banner which would become a household name in a few years.

Death

Parthasarathy died in August 1963 due to cancer.

Filmography

As actor

* ''Sakkubai'' (1934) * ''Srinivasa Kalyanam'' (1934) * ''Garuda Garvabhangham'' (1936) * ''Sethu Bandhanam'' (1937) * ''Dharmapuri Rahasiyam'' (alias ''Rajadrohi'')

As music composer

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parthasarathy, M. D. 1910 births 1963 deaths Tamil film score composers Male actors in Tamil cinema