Kaithapram Vishwanathan Namboothiri (1963 – 29 December 2021) was an Indian musician and music director. He was awarded

Kerala State Film Award for Best Background Music Superlatives Winners 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 ...

in 2001 for his background music for

Kannaki Kannagi ( ta, கண்ணகி) sometimes spelled Kannaki, is a legendary Tamil woman who forms the central character of the Tamil epic ''Cilappatikaram''. Kannagi is described as the chaste woman who stays with her husband despite his unfai ...

Life and career

Viswanathan was born in Kaithapram village in Payyanur Taluk of Kannur district in 1963 to Kannadi Kesavan Namboothiri (A

Carnatic musician Carnatic music, known as or in the South Indian languages, is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, and Sri Lanka. It is ...

and a disciple of

Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavatar a.k.a. Vaidyanatha Iyer (1 September 1896 – 16 October 1974) was a Carnatic music singer from Palakkad (state of Kerala, India). Known by his village name ''Chembai'', or simply as ''Bhagavatar'', he was born to ...

) and Adithi Antharjanam as their youngest child. His eldest brother,

Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri Padma Shri Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri, popularly known as Kaithapram, is a Malayalam lyricist, poet, music director, actor, singer, screenwriter, music therapist and performer of Carnatic music. He debuted with the movie Ennennum Kannet ...

, is a lyricist and a poet. An alumnus of Thiruvananthapuram Music College, Nambudiri handled the orchestra for his brother's songs in

Jayaraj Jayarajan Rajasekharan Nair, professionally credited as Jayaraj, is an Indian filmmaker, who predominantly works in Malayalam film industry. He has won many awards, including Crystal Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Golden ...

Desadanam ''Desadanam'' ( en, Journey to wisdom) is a 1996 Indian Malayalam language feature film directed by Jayaraj. It won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam. Plot The plot revolves around the personal turmoil faced by the par ...

. He made his debut with

Kaliyattam ''Kaliyattam'' ( en, The Play of God) is a 1997 Indian Malayalam-language tragedy film directed by Jayaraaj. It stars Suresh Gopi, Lal (in his acting debut), Manju Warrier, and Biju Menon. The film is an adaptation of William Shakespeare's play ...

, directed by

. He has done music for about 23 films, many of which were directed by

including

and

Thilakkam ''Thilakkam'' () is a 2003 Indian Malayalam-language comedy-drama film directed by Jayaraj and written by Rafi Mecartin. Dileep, Kavya Madhavan and Thiagarajan play the lead roles. The rest of the cast include Nedumudi Venu, K. P. A. C. Lalitha, ...

. His scores had been rendered by

K.J. Yesudas Kattassery Joseph Yesudas (born 10 January 1940) is an Indian playback singer and musician who sings Indian classical, devotional and film songs. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest singers in the history of Indian Music and also as a ...

P. Jayachandran Paliyath Jayachandrakuttan is an Indian playback singer and actor from Kerala. Jayachandran is best known for his captivating voice which gave him the title ''Bhava Gayakan'' by the music fraternity of South India. He has worked with many comp ...

K.S. Chithra Krishnan Nair Shantakumari Chithra (born 27 July 1963), always credited as K. S. Chithra or Chithra, is an Indian playback singer and Carnatic musician. In a career spanning over four decades, she has recorded over 25,000 songs in various In ...

and

G. Venugopal Gopinathan Nair Venugopal (born 10 December 1960), popularly known as G. Venugopal, is an Indian playback singer known for his works in Malayalam films. He started his singing career in the film '' Odaruthammava Aalariyam'' (1984). Since then h ...

. Viswanathan died of cancer at the MVR Cancer Center in Vellalasery, on 29 December 2021, at the age of 58. He was cremated with full state honours at Thiruvannur Kovilakam crematorium near his home. He is survived by his wife Gouri, daughters Adithi and Narmada, son Keshav, brothers Damodaran and Vasudevan and sister Thankam. Another sister, Saraswathi, predeceased him.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Namboothiri, Kaithapram Vishwanathan 1963 births 2021 deaths Deaths from cancer in India Indian film score composers Indian male film score composers People from Kannur district Musicians from Kerala