Kaithapram Vishwanathan Namboothiri (1963 – 29 December 2021) was an Indian musician and music director. He was awarded

Kerala State Film Award for Best Background Music 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 Can ...

in 2001 for his background music for

Kannaki Kannagi (), sometimes spelled Kannaki, is a legendary Tamil woman who forms the central character of the Tamil epic '' Cilappatikāram''. Kannagi is described as a chaste woman who stays with her husband despite his adultery, their attempt to r ...

Life and career

Viswanathan was born in Kaithapram village in Payyanur Taluk of Kannur district in 1963 to Kannadi Kesavan Namboothiri (A

Carnatic musician Carnatic music (known as or in the Dravidian languages) is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and southern Odisha. It is o ...

and a disciple of

Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar (born Vaidyanatha Iyer, 28 August 1896 – 16 October 1974) was an Indian Carnatic music singer from Kerala. He was born in Vatakara, Kerala, and moved to Palakkad along with his family during his childhood.L. R. ...

) and Adithi Antharjanam as their youngest child. His eldest brother,

Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, popularly known as Kaithapram, is a Malayalam lyricist, poet, music director, actor, singer, screenwriter, music therapist and performer of Carnatic music. He debuted with the movie Ennennum Kannettante in 19 ...

, is a lyricist and a poet. An alumnus of Thiruvananthapuram Music College, Nambudiri handled the orchestra for his brother's songs in

Jayaraj Jayarajan Rajasekharan Nair, professionally credited as Jayaraj (born 31 May 1960), is an Indian filmmaker, who predominantly works in the Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film industry. He has won many awards, including Crystal Bear at the Berli ...

's Desadanam. He made his debut with

Kaliyattam ''Kaliyattam'' () is a 1997 Indian Malayalam-language tragedy film directed by Jayaraj. It stars Suresh Gopi, Lal (in his acting debut), Biju Menon and Manju Warrier. The film is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play ''Othello'', set ...

, directed by

. He has done music for about 23 films, many of which were directed by

including

and

Thilakkam ''Thilakkam'' () is a 2003 Indian Malayalam-language black comedy film directed by Jayaraj and written by Rafi Mecartin. Dileep, Kavya Madhavan, and Thiagarajan play the lead roles. The rest of the cast includes Nedumudi Venu, K. P. A. C. Lal ...

. Most of his songs were written by his own brother, but many other lyricists like

Gireesh Puthenchery Girish Puthenchery was a noted Malayalam lyricist, poet, scriptwriter and screenwriter, esteemed for his pivotal role as a lyricist in Malayalam cinema. He was often hailed as the aristocratic lyricist of Malayalam and was admired for his uniqu ...

Sachidanandan Puzhankara Sachidanandan Puzhankara is an Indian lyricist, poet, and screenwriter who works predominantly in Malayalam. He co-wrote the lyrics and screenplay for the film Pranayavarnangal. Since then, he has written many successful songs. Life and career ...

and S. Ramesan Nair also wrote his songs. His scores had been rendered by

K. J. Yesudas Kattassery Joseph Yesudas ( /jeːʃud̪aːs/; born 10 January 1940) is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely considered one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian m ...

, P. Jayachandran,

K. S. Chithra Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra (born 27 July 1963) is an Indian playback singer and Carnatic musician. In a career spanning around five decades, she has recorded over 25,000 Songs in various Indian languages languages such as Tamil, Kann ...

and

G. Venugopal Gopinathan Nair Venugopal (born 10 December 1960), popularly known as G. Venugopal, is an Indian playback singer known for his works in Malayalam films. He started his singing career in the film '' Odaruthammava Aalariyam'' (1984). Since then ...

. Viswanathan died of cancer at the MVR Cancer Center in Vellalasery near Kozhikode on 29 December 2021, at the age of 58. He was cremated with full state honours at Thiruvannur Kovilakam crematorium near his home. He is survived by his wife Gouri, daughters Adithi and Narmada, son Keshav, brothers Damodaran and Vasudevan and sister Thankam. Both his parents and another sister, Saraswathi, predeceased him.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Namboothiri, Kaithapram Vishwanathan 1963 births 2021 deaths Deaths from cancer in India Indian film score composers Indian male film score composers People from Kannur district Musicians from Kerala