T. K. Velappan Nair (27 September 1929 – 27 February 2005), popularly known as Pukazhenthi, was an Indian

music director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry ( Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam wa ...

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, nati ...

and Telugu films.

Biography

Pukazhenthi was born on 27 September 1929, in

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 ...

, to Keshapillai and Janaki Amma. He did his schooling at V. M. School, Chala. He adopted the name of the famous Tamil poet Pukazhenthi on starting his career as a music director. He started his career as a music director scoring music for the songs of the Tamil play ''Thozhan''. His guru M. P. Sivam (M. Parameswaran Nair) introduced him to music director K. V. Mahadevan, which was a turning point in his career. Pukezhenthi worked as Mahadevan's associate in 250 films in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. After scoring music for a few Tamil films, Pukazhenthi debuted in Malayalam with '' Muthalali'' (1965). Within a career spanning more than 15 years, he scored just 12 films in Malayalam, but most of them had several evergreen songs. He also scored a few Tamil and Telugu films, and some devotional songs in all the four South Indian languages. He is known as "Puhalendi" in Telugu film industry. Mahadevan-Puhalendi as music director duo scored music for N. T. Rama Rao 1993 film

Srinatha Kavi Sarvabhowmudu ''Srinatha Kavi Sarvabhoumudu'' () is a 1993 Telugu-language biographical film, based on the life of 15th century poet Srinatha, produced by Nandamuri Rama Krishna under Ramakrishna Horticultural Studios & Srimathi Movie Combines banner and di ...

His last work came in 1995. He died aged 75 in a hotel room in

on 27 February 2005 after a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

Filmography

;Malayalam * '' Muthalali'' (1965) * '' Bhagyamudra'' (1967) * '' Vilakuranja Manushyar'' (1969) * '' Kochaniyathi'' (1971) * '' Moonu Pookkal'' (1971) * '' Vithukal'' (1971) * '' Sneehadeepame Mizhi Thurakku'' (1972) * '' Rakkuyil'' (1973) * '' Kalyana Sougandhikam'' (1975) * '' Agniparvatham'' (1979) * ''

Arayannam ''Arayannam'' is a 1981 Indian Malayalam film, directed by P. Gopikumar. The film stars Sukumari, Sathar, Sukumaran and Jagannatha Varma in the lead roles. The film has musical score by Pukazhenthi. Cast * Sukumari as Nalini's mother *Sath ...

'' (1981) * '' Hima Nandini'' (1995) ;Tamil * '' Selviyin Selvan'' (1968) * '' Gurudakshinai'' (1969)

References

* * * {{authority control Tamil film score composers Indian male composers Malayalam film score composers 1927 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Indian composers Musicians from Thiruvananthapuram Film musicians from Kerala Male film score composers 20th-century male musicians