G Devarajan

G. Devarajan was a successful and highly respected South Indian music director. His full name was Paravoor Govindan Devarajan and was also called Devarajan master. He was one of the most successful Malayalam music songsmiths. He was born in the year 1927, at Paravur near the Kollam district of Kerala. Later on, he graduated in music and performed his first classical gig at the young age of 18. Soon, he became inclined towards the famous Communist ideology and decided to join the movement. He went on to join KPAC and put his musical talent for a better purpose. He gained exposure for one of his drama song which was written by one of his friend's and was composed and crooned by Devarajan himself. In his entire career span, he went on to give music to a whopping number of 350 Malayalam flicks. He has also rendered melodies to Tamil and Kannada movies and also to various plays and dramas. One of his most famous work was for the Tamil movie 'AnnaiVelankann', which went on to earn him laurels and accolades. He made his film debut in the year 1995, with 'KaalamMaarunnu' for which he composed music. He also collaborated with prominent poet-songwriter VayalarRamavarma for the film Chathurangam in the year 1959. HIs work with Vayalar gave the Malayalam film industry many golden tunes. His third film and second with Vayalar- 'Bharya' went on to become a huge success and shaped them as a hit duo. He was like a godfather figure to the famous singers of that period. Through his work, he left an unforgettable impression on the Malayalam drama scene, and he was very influential and had extensive knowledge about classical music, for the very same reason he was highly respected by all the artists of that period. He was also regarded as one of the pioneers of film music in the South Indian film industry after the super hit song "MalayalaBaashathan" for the film 'PrethangaludeThaazhvazha' in the year 1973. Devarajan used to include the maximum number of ragas in the Malayalam movie music and his work used to have influences of Carnatic and Hindustani music. He had also composed spiritual songs which went on to become evergreen classics. He was an atheist. He was the recipient of many famous awards like the Kerala State Govt.'s Best Music award which he won over five times. He also released a book which includes all of his compositions. He died at the age of 81 due to a cardiac arrest at his Chennai residence on 5th March 2006.