Maria Kolande Rock Christysamy (13 September 1932 – 30 November 1988), popularly as M. K. Rocksamy, was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

n musician and music director.

Personal life

Rocksamy was born on 13 September 1932 in Elpitiya to a musical family that came from

Goa Goa (; ; ) is a state on the southwestern coast of India within the Konkan region, geographically separated from the Deccan highlands by the Western Ghats. It is bound by the Indian states of Maharashtra to the north, and Karnataka to the ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. His father was Maria Kolande Samy and mother was Anna Mary Moses. Both father and mother were born in Pondicherry Colony, South India. Rocksamy was the second child of the second marriage of Anna Mary. Anna Mary was previously married to a person called Lazarus. Anna had three children from this first marriage – Nazareth, Rose Lazarus and Joe Lazarus. After the marriage with Kolandesamy, she gave birth to three more children – Anthony Sami, Christysamy and Bastian Sami. Therefore, Rocksamy's race was Tamil, his mother tongue was

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 ...

, and his religion was

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

. He initially learned to play the

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

and the

saxophone The saxophone (often referred to colloquially as the sax) is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to p ...

. His mother was a talented harmonium player. He completed his education from Anderson College,

Slave Island Slave Island, officially known as Kompagngna Veediya (; ), also known as Kampong Kertel and Kompanna Veediya and formerly known as Javanam Quarters (Javanese Quarter) during Dutch rule, is a suburb in Colombo, Sri Lanka, located directly south of ...

. He is also a clever soccer play of the college football team's and a colour holder of the school. His brother Anthonysamy is also a musician. He was married to Indrani Rocksamy. He met Indrani during the song production of film ''Sekaya'', where she was one of the chorus singers. The couple has three children – Jeevan Augustin, Anna Radika and Anjala Devika. His son Jeevan used to play keyboards, guitar and drums. Rocksamy was a devoted Catholic and often visited St. Anthony's church, Wahakotte. He died on 30 November 1988 at the age of 56.

Music career

Rocksamy joined the

Radio Ceylon Radio Ceylon ( ''Lanka Guwan Viduli Sevaya'', , ''ilankai vanoli'') is a radio station based in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) and the first radio station in Asia. Broadcasting was started on an experimental basis by the colonial Telegraph Departme ...

orchestra at the age of 17. He continued to play the violin for eight hours per day. Therefore he became the most sought after violinist during that time. Rocksamy is credited with introducing the saxophone to the Sinhala Oriental Music Orchestra of

. He turned his attention to the

violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...

after taking lessons on

Carnatic music 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 ...

under teacher Sangaralingam at Colpetty. He joined Radio Ceylon as a violinist in 1953 and participated in several of R. A. Chandrasena's programs. His first recording with the organization is said to be a guitar part on a Susil Premaratne song. He played music for many live musical programs on ITN and also on Rupavahini. Then under the guidance of Chandrasena, Rocksamy moved to Ramayya Muttusamy to learn the music further. He joined with Muttusamy’s film orchestra at the Sundera Murugan Nayagam Studio at Kandana in late 1950s. He continued to work in Sinhala cinema from 1960s to the mid 1980s. Rocksamy was asked to contribute to the soundtrack of several films made at the studio beginning with ''Bandara Nagarayata Pemineema'' (1952). In 1962, he got the opportunity to play a bigger role directing three songs for Shanthi Kumar's ''Sansare'' after its original music director

B. S. Perera Balasuriyage Steven Perera (born 31 March 1924 – died 24 June 1982 as බී. එස්. පෙරේරා) inhala, popularly as B. S. Perera, was an actor in Sri Lankan cinema and theater as well as a director and singer. One of the earlie ...

died. His song ''Sinhala Avurudda Ewilla'' became highly popularized and still a sensation during Avurudu festival. Some of his most popular song composing include ''Jeewana Vila Meda'', ''Piyaapath Sala'', ''Madu Mala Lesa'', ''Agaada Saagaraye'', ''Menikak Rakina'', ''Budu Saamine'' and ''Sithin Ma Noseli Sitiddi''. He worked continuously in large number of music studios such as The Vijaya Studio Wattala, the Government Film Unit, Narahenpita, Ceylon Studios, Thimbirigasyaya, SPM Studios Kandana and Sarasavi Studios Kelaniya. He has directed music for more than 60 Sinhala films such as ''Sansaare'', ''Dheewarayo'', ''Chandali'', ''Maha Re Hamuwu Striya'', ''Hara Lakshaya'', ''Deviyani Oba Kohida'' and ''Re Manamali''. He also composed music for three Tamil films including ''Ponmani''. He is the composer of the first independent Hindi song included in a Sinhalese Film. The song ''Ek Kali Thi'' was written by Ravilal Wimaladharma for the film ''Cyril Malli'' and sung by

Milton Mallawarachchi Sumanasiri Mallawarachchi Don (7 April 1944–10 March 1998: ), popularly known as Milton Mallawarachchi, was a Sri Lankan singer and musician. One of the most respected singers in Sri Lankan music history, Mallawarachchi was a trending act i ...

. The Sinhala translation of the song ''Mal Kekuli Komali Manali'' was sung by H.R. Jothipala and composer was Rocksamy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rocksamy, M. K. 1932 births 1988 deaths 20th-century Sri Lankan musicians Sri Lankan Tamil musicians Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan composers