K.V.Mahadevan

Biography
K. V. Mahadevan, or "mAmA" as he was popularly known among his colleagues, has a special place in South Indian film music.A contemporary of Mr. M.S. Viswanathan, KVM has scored music for over 600 films, spanning four decades, after starting his career in the late fifties with Avan Amaran. Health reasons hastened the end of his career in the mid- nineties. Known for mythologicals such as Sampoorna Ramayanam and Thiruvilayadal, KVM is said to have been a path-breaker in blending classical music with film music and was a `guru' to many music directors. His hits include Sankarabharanam, Kandan Karunai, Vasantha Maaligai, Vietnam Veedu, Padikkatha Methai and Vaanambaadi. KVM is survived by his wife, two sons and three daughters. He started his career as a happy composer with 'Anandhan' in 1942, contributed immensely for nearly half a century, before surrendering in 1990 with 'muruganE thuNai'. During this period he scored music for about 250 Tamil films. The special features of his compositions were: giving primary importance to lyrics and composing music that is perfectly suited to lyrics; always keeping a base in the Carnatic music systems; and giving independence to singers and other assistants to freely contribute ideas for improving his compositions. Some of the famous Tamil movies for which he composed include 'Adimai Penn', 'Thiruvilayaadal', 'Vaanampadi', 'Thillaana Moganambal', 'Kandhan Karunai', 'Muthalali'. His most famous and recent composition in Telugu was in the movie directed by K.Vishwanath, Swathi Kiranam (1991).He was the first recipient of National Film Award for Best Music Direction. Mr. K.V. Mahadevan, passed away on 21 June 2001 morning in the Chennai city. He was 83.a