Paravoor Govindan Devarajan (1927–2006), popularly known as G. Devarajan or Devarajan master, was an Indian

music composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

and Carnatic singer. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers in the history of Indian film music. He scored music for more than three hundred

Malayalam films Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ''Elippathayam ...

, many dramas, and twenty

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

and four

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

movies. His collaborations with

Vayalar Ramavarma Vayalar Ramavarma (March 25, 1928 – October 27, 1975), also known as Vayalar, was an Indian poet and lyricist of Malayalam language. He was known for his poems which include ''Sargasangeetham'', ''Mulankaadu'', ''Padamudrakal'', ''Aayisha'' a ...

produced the golden era of Malayalam film music and many of his compositions remain ever green classics in Malayalam. His music in the Tamil film ''

Annai Velankanni ''Annai Velankanni'' () is 1971 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by K. Thangappan. The film stars Gemini Ganesan, Jayalalithaa, Padmini and K. R. Vijaya. Kamal Haasan briefly appears in an uncredited role as Jesus Christ. It comprises ...

'' has received many accolades. Devarajan received

Kerala Government Government of Kerala is the subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decisio ...

's Best Music Director award five times, among other honours. In 2005, he was honoured with the

J. C. Daniel Award The J. C. Daniel Award is Kerala's highest award in Malayalam cinema. It is presented annually by the Kerala State Chalachitra Academy, a non-profit institution under the Department of Cultural Affairs of the Government of Kerala, India. Insti ...

Kerala government Government of Kerala is the subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decisio ...

's highest honour for contributions to Malayalam cinema.

Early life

Born at Paravur, Kollam district in

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Ca ...

to mridangist and classical singer Paravur Kochu Govindan Asan and Kochukunju as their eldest son. His grandfather, Narayanan Asan, was a Kathakali artist. His dad, though he was a mridangam vidwan and a disciple of

Dakshinamurthy Pillai Dhakshinamoorthy Pillai (1875–1936), was a leading mridangam and kanjira artist who accompanied musicians in Carnatic music Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with Sout ...

, primarily taught vocal to his students, and thus Devarajan learned Carnatic vocal for around 12–13 years adeptly from his own father through that. He did his intermediate college at

University College In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...

in Thiruvananthapuram from 1946 to 1948 and passed with First Class. He additionally graduated with BA in Economics from

Mahatma Gandhi College Mahatma Gandhi College is a college in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. It was founded by to Mannathu Padmanabhan, the founder of the Nair Service Society. The college is affiliated to Kerala University and is managed by Nair Service Society ...

, Thiruvanthapuram. Devarajan, under the name of Paravur Devarajan or Paravur G. Devaraj, started his illustrious career in music as a classical singer and performed his first classical concert at the age of 17 and started to perform more concerts on AIR Tiruchi and Trivandrum. He performed a number of classical concerts from 1947 to 1967 with multiple accompanists, his usual ones being Chalakudy Narayanaswamy and

Mavelikara Krishnankutty Nair Mavelikkara Krishnankutty Nair (11 October 1920 – 13 January 1988) was a Carnatic Mridangam player. He received his training from Alleppey Venkappan Pillai and Veechur Krishna Iyer. He considered Palani Subramaniam Pillai as his 'Manasa G ...

. At the end of his classical concerts, he used to set tunes to the poems of Ulloor Parameswaran Iyer,

Kumaranasan Mahakavi Kumaran Asan (Malayalam: എൻ. കുമാരൻ ആശാൻ) (12 April 1873 – 16 January 1924) was a poet of Malayalam literature, Indian social reformer and a philosopher. He is known to have initiated a revolution in Malayalam ...

Changampuzha Changampuzha Krishna Pillai (Malayalam: ചങ്ങമ്പുഴ കൃഷ്ണപിള്ള; 10 October 1911 – 17 June 1948) was a celebrated Malayalam poet from Kerala, India, known for his elegy ''Ramanan'' (Malayalam: രമണന ...

, G. Kumarapilla, O. N. V. Kurup, P. Bhaskaran, amongst many others. He was soon attracted to the Communist movement and decided to dedicate his creative energy to popular music. He joined the once-famous drama troupe of Kerala, the

Kerala People's Arts Club Kerala People's Arts Club (KPAC) is a theatrical movement in Kayamkulam, Kerala, India. It was formed in the 1950s by a group of individuals having close ties with Communist Party of India in Kerala. KPAC was very influential in popularising t ...

(KPAC). The work that brought him to the limelight was the drama song titled "Ponnarivaal ambiliyil kanneriyunnoole", written by his friend O. N. V. Kurup and composed and sung by himself. KPAC and its members had a distinctive leaning towards the communist ideology, and their dramas played a role in spreading the ideology among the Keralite masses. Through his compositions, Devarajan would cast an indelible imprint in the Malayali theatre arena, especially after the famous KPAC drama ''Ningalenne Communistaakki'', written by Thoppil Bhasi in 1952.

Film career

The first movie for which he composed music was ''Kaalam Maarunnu'' (1955). He teamed up with poet-lyricist

in ''Chathurangam'' in 1959. His third movie – and the second with Vayalar – ''Bharya'' (1962) became a huge hit and made them a popular combination. His collaborations with Vayalar produced the golden era of Malayalam film music. Devarajan is remembered by singers in Malayalam like K. J. Yesudas and Jayachandran as their Godfather. Devarajan was known for his use of numerous

raaga A ''raga'' or ''raag'' (; also ''raaga'' or ''ragam''; ) is a melodic framework for improvisation in Indian classical music akin to a melodic mode. The ''rāga'' is a unique and central feature of the classical Indian music tradition, and as ...

s in Malayalam film music, using more than 100s of them in his compositions. His music embraced different styles with the Carnatic and Hindustani melody lines meeting folk idioms and Western harmony. Despite being a strong

atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...

, he composed devotional songs like " Harivarasanam", "

Guruvayoor Guruvayur () is a municipal temple town in Thrissur District, of Kerala State in India. It is a suburban town of Thrissur city, located from Thrissur towards the north-west. It houses the Guruvayur Shri Krishna Temple. It is located at ...

Ambalanadayil", "Chethi Mandaram Thulasi", and "Nithyavishudhayam Kanyamariyame", which are considered classics in that genre. Also, he is particularly noted for his remarkable ability to blend the words of the lyrics with the mood of the situation in his film song compositions, exercising self-restraint while writing songs for the uninitiated audience without relinquishing the magic of his poetry. Most of his hit songs were written by Vayalar Ramavarma. The Vayalar-Devarajan combine proved the most successful team till the death of Vayalar in the mid-1970s. Hundreds of songs contributed by the team are still part of Malayalis' nostalgia. Apart from Vayalar, he has also given tunes to lyrics by other poets and songwriters like O. N. V. Kurup, P. Bhaskaran, and

Sreekumaran Thampi Sreekumaran Thampi (born 16 March 1940) is an Indian lyricist, music director, director, producer, and screenwriter in Malayalam cinema. He also writes poetry and is a recipient of the Vallathol Award. In 2017, he was awarded the J. C. Daniel ...

. Devarajan was at one point in time regarded as the doyen of film music in South India. He was much feared and respected by all musicians and singers of that period, for his sound knowledge of Classical music. It might be due to this dominance he had over others that he was widely known as arrogant. But he enjoyed a royal status till his death in the music circles.

Yesudas Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born 10 January 1940) is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian Music and also as a ...

, P. Madhuri,

P. Susheela Pulapaka Susheela (born 13 November 1935), popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer associated with the South Indian cinema primarily from Andhra Pradesh for over six decades. She is one of the greatest and best-known playba ...

, and

P. Jayachandran Paliyath Jayachandrakuttan is an Indian playback singer and actor from Kerala. Jayachandran is best known for his captivating voice which gave him the title ''Bhava Gayakan'' by the music fraternity of South India. He has worked with many comp ...

sang most of his songs. He has sung with more than 130 singers.

M. K. Arjunan M. K. Arjunan ( ml, എം.കെ. അർജുനൻ; 1 March 1936 – 6 April 2020) was an Indian film and theatre composer, known for his works in Malayalam cinema and the theatre of Kerala. He was fondly referred to as ''Arjunan Master''. E ...

R. K. Shekhar Rajagopala Kulashekharan or R. K. Shekhar (21 June 1933 – 09 September 1976) was an Indian music composer who worked mainly for Malayalam movies. He composed music for 52 films (23 in Malayalam with 127 songs), and was the music conductor for ...

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

Vidyasagar Vidyasagar or Vidya Sagar may refer to: People *Acharya Vidyasagar (born 1946), prominent Digambar Jain Acharya (1946-) * Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar (1820–1891), Bengali scholar *Vidyasagar (composer) (born 1963), South Indian music director * ...

, Oussepachan,

M. Jayachandran Madhusoodanan Jayachandran is an Indian composer, singer, and musician. He has won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Music Director for a record number of nine times. In 2005, he also won the state award for best male singer. In 2015, he w ...

Ilayaraja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one of ...

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

and many others who later became famous as music directors worked as his assistants, conductors, and instrumentalists. A complete work of Devarajan, ''Devageethikal'', composed by himself, has released and the book is published by Authentic books. Devarajan died of a massive

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...

at his residence in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

on 15 March 2006. He was 78 at the time of his death, and was survived by his wife, two children - a daughter (elder) and a son (younger) - and some grandchildren. His body was taken airway to

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

, and was cremated with state honors at Nehru Park in Paravur, his hometown.

Filmography

;Malayalam *'' Omanakuttan ''(1964) *'' Bhoomidevi Pushpiniyayi ''(1974) *'' Ammini Ammavan''(1976) *'' Vishnu Vijayam'' (1974) *''Chattakari'' (1974) *'' Ponni'' (1976) *'' Shalini Ente Koottukari'' (1980) *''Meen'' (1980) *'' Parankimala'' (1981) ;Tamil *''

Kaaval Dheivam ''Kaaval Dheivam'' () is a 1969 Indian Tamil-language drama film, directed by K. Vijayan and produced by S. V. Subbaiah. An adaptation of the novel ''Kai Vilangu'' by Jayakanthan, the film stars Sivakumar, Sowcar Janaki, Lakshmi and Nagesh i ...

'' (1969) *'' Kasturi Thilakam'' (1970) *''

'' (1971) *''

Paruva Kaalam ''Paruva Kaalam'' () is a 1974 Indian Tamil-language film, directed by Jos A.N. Fernando, written by A. S. Prakasam, starring Srikanth, Roja Ramani, Kamal Haasan, Nagesh and Prameela. Roja Ramani paired up with Kamal Haasan for the first time. ...

'' (1974) *'' Maram'' (1973) *'' Andharangam'' (1975) *'' Villiyanur Matha'' (1983)

Awards

Kerala State Film Awards The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have been bestowed by Kerala State Ch ...

: * 1969 – Best Music Director * 1970 – Best Music Director – ''Thriveni'' * 1972 – Best Music Director * 1985 – Best Music Director * 1991 – Best Background Music – ''

Yamanam '' Yamanam'' is a 1992 Malayalam film, directed by Bharath Gopi, and starring Archana, Santha Devi, Syama and Nedumudi Venu. Plot A physically disabled girl Ambili ( Archana) is restricted to a wheelchair because of a childhood attack of polio ...

'' * 1999 –

for Lifetime Achievement Award from the

Government of Kerala Government of Kerala is the subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decisio ...

Kerala Film Critics Association Award The Kerala Film Critics Association Awards are presented annually by the Kerala Film Critics Association to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Malayalam language film industry of India. The awards were insti ...

*1977 - Kerala Film Critics Association Award for Best Music Director *1978 - Kerala Film Critics Association Award for Best Music Director *1979 - Kerala Film Critics Association Award for Best Music Director

References

External links

Type a message
Hindu online, Soaring on the wings of poetry

Malayalam music orphaned – (Sunday Kaumudi)R.I.P. G. Devarajan Master

G Devarajan at MSI

All Malayalam Movie Songs Composed by G Devarajan at MSI

All Malayalam Non Movie Songs Composed by G Devarajan at MSI

An interview with Devarajan Master
* https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/kozhikode/remembering-a-master-composer/article6460893.ece {{DEFAULTSORT:Devarajan, G 1927 births 2006 deaths Indian atheists Kerala State Film Award winners Malayalam film score composers Sree Narayana College, Kollam alumni 20th-century Indian composers Artists from Kollam Musicians from Kollam Film musicians from Kerala 21st-century Indian composers Indian male film score composers 20th-century Indian male singers 20th-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian male singers 21st-century Indian singers Tamil film score composers Male Carnatic singers Carnatic singers J. C. Daniel Award winners