Trichirappalli Krishnasamy Ramamoorthy (18 May 1922 – 17 April 2013) was an Indian Tamil music composer. Ramamoorthy was known as ''Mellisai Mannar'' (; "The King of Light Music"), along with M. S. Viswanathan. His major works are in

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 ...

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

and

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of South India ** Telugu literature, is the body of works written in the Telugu language. * Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Tel ...

films. He and

M. S. Viswanathan Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (24 June 1928 – 14 July 2015), also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director, singer and actor who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry. Popularly known by the sobriquet "Mellisai Mannar" (), he ...

, as the duo ''

Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy were an Indian music composing duo composed of M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy. They worked together on over 100 films, from 1952's '' Panam'' to 1965's '' Aayirathil Oruvan''. After their split, Ramamoorthy w ...

'', composed musical scores for over 100 films in the South Indian film industry during the 1950s and 1960s. The duo parted amicably in 1965, but eventually rejoined in 1995 after 30 years for ''

Engirundho Vandhan ''Engirundho Vandhan'' () is a 1995 Indian Tamil-language comedy film directed by Santhana Bharathi. The film stars Sathyaraj, Roja and Aamani, with Vijayakumar, Janagaraj, Kalyan Kumar, Vinu Chakravarthy, R. Sundarrajan, Bhanu Chander an ...

''. At age 91, he died in a hospital in Chennai on 17 April 2013.TK Ramamurthy, noted music composer, passes away
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Early life

Tiruchirapalli Krishnaswamy Ramamoorthy was born in

Tiruchirapalli 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 ...

into a family that was musically inclined. Both his Parents Krishnasamy Pillai and Nagalakshmi and grandfather, Malaikkottai Govindaswamy Pillai, were well-known violinists in Tiruchirapalli. Ramamoorthy gave several stage performances along with his father in his childhood. When he was fourteen, C. R. Subbaraman noted the young boy's talent and hired him as a violinist for

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...

Career

In the 1940s, Ramamoorthy worked in Saraswathi stores where AVM Studio's boss,

Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar Avichi Meiyappa Chettiar (28 July 1907 – 12 August 1979), also known as A. V. Meiyappan, A. V. Meiyappa Chettiar or AVM, was an Indian film producer, film director and screenwriter who established AVM Productions in Vadapalani, Chennai. ...

, was a partner in the shop. This led him to play violin for AVM's music composer, R. Sudarsanam, in some films. During these days, he also became friends with P.S. Diwakar, the pianist and music composer in the Malayala films. By the late 1940s, C. R. Subbaraman, who was a rising star in the South Indian film music world, used Ramamoorthy as one of his violinists in his musical troupe. There, he met violinist and composer T. G. Lingappa, as well as

in 1950, with whom he became a partner in later years.

Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy partnership

In 1952, C. R. Subburaman died unexpectedly, which led to Ramamoorthy and Viswanathan joining to complete the background music for the films Subburaman was working on. They were introduced by N. S. Krishnan, who knew them both fairly intimately and also their respective talents by then. T. K. Ramamoorthy, despite being an excellent musician with an orthodox Carnatic musical background, was a shy, modest and reserved person whereas M. S. Viswanathan was naturally talented, charming, forward and dynamic even if he lacked the similar background in Carnatic music. Ramamoorthy was older than Viswanathan by six years, but the placing of their names in ''Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy'' team was agreed upon by both parties on the advice of Krishnan, who thereafter got the duo their first chance to score Krishnan's 1953 film, ''Panam''. The duo composed for over 100 films during the '50s and '60s, revitalising Chennai film music. The duo parted in 1965 and since then, they had composed for films individually. Although M.S. Viswanathan enjoyed a successful solo career, with over 700 films from 1965 to 2013, Ramamoorthy composed for only 19 films from 1966 to 1986. He was awarded an honorary doctorate, along with

M.S. Viswanathan Manayangath Subramanian Viswanathan (24 June 1928 – 14 July 2015), also known as M.S.V., was an Indian music director, singer and actor who predominantly worked in Tamil film industry. Popularly known by the sobriquet "Mellisai Mannar" (), he ...

, by the Sathyabama Deemed University in September 2006. In addition,

J. Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016), popularly known as Amma, was an Indian actress, politician, and philanthropist who served as the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years between 1991 and 2016. She ...

being the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union ter ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

, conferred the ''Thirai Isai Chakravarthy'' (; "Emperors of the Cine Music") title in August 2012 and presented it to him, along with 60 gold coins and a new car.

Death

Ramamoorthy died in a hospital in Chennai following a brief illness on 17 April 2013. He was 90.

Filmography

T.K.Ramamoorthy, in association with M.S.Viswanathan, composed music for over 100 films, starting with "Panam" in 1952 up till "Aayirathil Oruvan" in 1966, under the brand name 'Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy'. After their separation in 1966, T.K Ramamoorthy composed music for these films –

References

External links

Down melody lane...
from The Hindu, newspaper * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ramamurthy, T K 1922 births 2013 deaths Musicians from Tiruchirappalli Tamil film score composers Tamil musicians Telugu film score composers 20th-century Indian musicians