B. Sivasankaran Nair, popularly known as Bichu Thirumala (13 February 1942 – 26 November 2021), was an Indian

lyricist A lyricist is a songwriter who writes lyrics (the spoken words), as opposed to a composer, who writes the song's music which may include but not limited to the melody, harmony, arrangement and accompaniment. Royalties A lyricist's income ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

. He is known for creating the style of arranging beautiful words in

Malayalam film Malayalam cinema is an Indian cinema, Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ...

songs. In Malayalam cinema, Bichu Thirumala led the group of lyricists who wrote songs for readymade tunes. He won the

Kerala State Film Award The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have been bestowed by Kerala State Cha ...

for the best lyricist two times. His prolific Malayalam film repertoire includes work with eminent composers like

Shyam Shyam is a name of Krishna and an Indian masculine given name and surname. Notable people with this name include: ;Shyam *Shyam (actor), Indian Hindi film actor *Shyam (composer), an Indian music composer from Kerala * Shyam Benegal, Indian film di ...

, G. Devarajan,

V. Dakshinamurthy Venkateswaran Dakshinamoorthy (9 December 1919 – 2 August 2013) was a veteran carnatic musician and composer and music director of Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi films, predominantly in Malayalam films. He has set scores for the songs in over 125 ...

, M.S. Baburaj,

K. Raghavan K. Raghavan (2 December 1913 – 19 October 2013), also fondly called Raghavan Master, was a Malayalam music composer and Carnatic Vocalist. Along with G. Devarajan, V. Dakshinamoorthy and Baburaj, Raghavan is often credited for the renaissance ...

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. He was popularly known as ''Mellisai Mannar''. He compose ...

, A.T. Ummer, K.J. Joy,

Shankar–Ganesh Shankar–Ganesh is an Indian music director duo who has worked on Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada movies for around 50 years. Career They started as assistants to Tamil music composers M. S. Viswanathan and T. K. Ramamoorthy in 1964 a ...

, Jaya Vijaya,

Raveendran Madhavan Raveendran ( ml, മാധവൻ രവീന്ദ്രൻ ), (born Kulathupuzha, Kollam, 9 November 1943 – died Chennai, Tamil Nadu, 3 March 2005), fondly known as ''Raveendran Master'', was a popular South Indian music composer an ...

Jerry Amaldev Jerome Thomas Veleeparambil, more popularly known by his stage name Jerry Amaldev (born 15 April 1939) is a three-time Kerala State Film Awards winning Indian composer of film scores who has given music to some of the most important motion pic ...

Johnson Johnson is a surname of Anglo-Norman origin meaning "Son of John". It is the second most common in the United States and 154th most common in the world. As a common family name in Scotland, Johnson is occasionally a variation of ''Johnston'', a ...

Ouseppachan Mechery Louis Ouseppachan (born 13 September 1955), known mononymously as Ouseppachan, is an Indian film composer and singer who primarily works in Malayalam films. He is a recipient of National Film Award, Filmfare Award and Kerala State ...

Ilaiyaraaja Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan, 3 June 1943) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, instrumentalist, lyricist and singer, popular for his works in Indian Cinema, prominently in Tamil films. Reputed to be one of ...

A. R. Rahman Allah Rakha Rahman (; born A. S. Dileep Kumar; 6 January 1967) is an Indian music composer, record producer, singer and songwriter, popular for his works in Indian cinema; predominantly in Tamil and Hindi films, with occasional forays in int ...

and the list goes on.

Life and career

Bichu Thirumala was born to C.G. Bhaskaran Nair and Sasthamangalam Pattanikkunnu Veettil Parukutty Amma 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 ...

. He was the eldest child of his parents. His siblings are the late Balagopalan (who died at a young age, on whose remembrance he wrote the all time people's favourite ''
Olathumbathirunnu
song from the movie '' Pappayude Swantham Appoos''), Susheela Devi, Vijayakumar, Dr. Chandra, Shyama, Darshan Raman and Jayalekshmi. He graduated with a BA from

University College Thiruvananthapuram University College, Thiruvananthapuram (UCT) is a constituent college of the University of Kerala, based primarily in Thiruvananthapuram, the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. The college was awarded 23rd rank by National Institutional Ran ...

. He was married to Prasanna and they have a son named Suman Bichu (music director). Bichu Thirumala debuted with the Malayalam Movie ''

Bhaja Govindam "Bhaja Govindam" ( sa, भज गोविन्दं, meaning "Praise/Seek Govinda"), also known as "Moha Mudgara" ("Destroyer of illusion"), is a popular Hindu devotional poem in Sanskrit composed by Adi Shankara. This work of Adi Shankara ...

'' in 1972, which was directed by CRK Nair and with Jaya Vijaya as the music composer .After his modest beginning, Thirumala went on to become one of the most successful Malayalam lyricists and wrote songs for such notable music directors as

A. T. Ummer Anjukandy Thalakkal Ummer ( ml, അഞ്ചുകണ്ടി തളയ്ക്കൽ ഉമ്മർ) (10 March 1933 – 18 October 2001) was a Malayalam music composer from Kerala, India. He is known for composing many soft melodies for 174 ...

, G. Devarajan, and

. In the 1970s he teamed up with music director

to compose many sweet melodies. Bichu Thirumala penned the lines for AR Rahman's one and only Malayalam music for film, '' Yodha'' and the most popular TV Commercial Jingle ''
Manam Pole Mangalyam
for ''REMANIKA''. His first song "Brahma Muhoorthathil" became popular as a "Lalitha ganam" or light song since the movie ''Bhaja Govindam'' did not see the light of the day. Radio Ceylon used to air the song in the early-1970s.

Death

Bichu Thirumala, whose career stalled after a massive accident at his home in 1994, was admitted to S. K. hospital in Thiruvananthapuram with breathing problems and had suffered a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which may tr ...

as well. He had been on ventilator support after his condition worsened, and died on 26 November 2021 at the age of 79. His dead body was cremated with full state honours at Santhikavadam crematorium on the same day. He is survived by his wife Prasanna (retired finance officer officer, KWA) & son Suman Bichu (music director).

Awards

Other Awards * Critics Award * Film Fans Award * Stallion International Award * Vamadevan Award * Sree Chithirathirunal Award * P.Bhaskaran Award

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thirumala, Bichu 1941 births 2021 deaths Malayalam-language lyricists People from Kerala Kerala State Film Award winners People from Thiruvananthapuram district