M S Viswanathan

M.S.Viswanathan, who is fondly known as M.S.V., was born in Palakkad. Manayangth Subramanian Viswanathan is a famous Music Composer, Singer, and Actor. This celebrated Musician has been given the title ‘MellisaiMannar’ by the legendary actor Sivaji Ganesan. He has created music for Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam Films.

Predominantly, M.S.V has composed for South Indian movies. Recently in the year 2012, the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu had granted the title ‘ThiraiulagaIsaiChakravarthy’ on M.S.Vfor his formidable stint in the music field. M.S.V came into the cine field with the passion for acting and singing. He was not successful in his initial days that is in the period of 1940s. He started his career by playing small roles in dramas. T.R. Papa, a well-known music director in that time period, made M.S.V the gofer for the music troupe of S.V Venkatraman, in the year 1942.

He then became a member in the music band of C.R. Subburaman, as a Harmonium player. T. K. Ramamurthy and T. G. Lingappawas the prime Violinist in that troupe. It was here in this troupe, the popular duo Viswanathan-Ramamurthy was formed. C.R. Subburaman died startlingly, in the year 1952. His incomplete composition for a film was carried on by the Viswanathan- Ramamoorthy duo. They both worked on the films- Devdas, Chandrani, Marumagal. The songs were magical and were a blockbuster.

M.S.V’s talent was identified and appreciated by the acclaimed actor M.G. Ramachandran after he composed the songs for his movie Genova. These two skillful music Directors have composed music for over a hundred films, within the period-1952 to 1965. The duo’s last outing was for the film Aayirathil Oruvan, in the year 1965. M.S. Viswanathan was a trend setter in the field of music. He mixed Indian Classical and Hindustani music with Western beats and gave a feet tapping number. His timely comedy in the films Kaathala Kaathala and Kadhal Mannan, in which he acted, were critically acclaimed.

He was conferred with the Doctorate title by Sathyabama University, in the year 2006. He was given the Kalaimamani title by the State Government. M.S.V passed away on July 14, 2015, due to Kidney Cancer. He is survived by his four sons and three daughters.