T. K. Velappan Nair (27 September 1929 – 27 February 2005), popularly known as Pukazhenthi, was an Indian

music director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

and

Telugu films Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Telugu cinema is based in Film Nagar, Hy ...

Biography

Pukazhenthi was born on 27 September 1929, 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 ...

, to Keshapillai and Janaki Amma. He did his schooling at V. M. School, Chala. He adopted the name of the famous Tamil poet Pukazhenthi on starting his career as a music director. He started his career as a music director scoring music for the songs of the Tamil play ''Thozhan''. His guru M. P. Sivam (M. Parameswaran Nair) introduced him to music director K. V. Mahadevan, which was a turning point in his career. Pukezhenthi worked as Mahadevan's associate in 250 films in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam. After scoring music for a few Tamil films, Pukazhenthi debuted in Malayalam with ''

Muthalali ''Muthalali'' is a 1965 Malayalam language film directed by M. A. V. Rajendran. It stars Prem Nazir, Sheela, T. S. Muthaiah and Thikkurissy Sukumaran Nair. Muthalali is inspired by the Tamil language film of the same name. The Tamil film ''M ...

'' (1965). Within a career spanning more than 15 years, he scored just 12 films in Malayalam, but most of them had several evergreen songs. He also scored a few Tamil and Telugu films, and some devotional songs in all the four South Indian languages. He is known as "Puhalendi" in Telugu film industry. Mahadevan-Puhalendi as music director duo scored music for

N. T. Rama Rao Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (28 May 1923 – 18 January 1996), often referred to by his initials NTR, was an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who served as List of Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh fo ...

1993 film Srinatha Kavi Sarvabhowmudu His last work came in 1995. He died aged 75 in a hotel room in

on 27 February 2005 after a

cardiac arrest Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. It is a medical emergency that, without immediate medical intervention, will result in sudden cardiac death within minutes. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and possib ...

Filmography

;Malayalam * ''

'' (1965) * ''

Bhagyamudra ''Bhagyamudra'' is a 1967 Indian Malayalam-language film written by S. L. Puram Sadanandan and directed by M. A. V. Rajendran. It stars Prem Nazeer, Meenakumari, Adoor Bhasi, Muthukulam Raghavan Pillai, Manavalan Joseph, Kottayam Shantha, Kal ...

'' (1967) * ''

Vilakuranja Manushyar ''Vilakuranja Manushyan'' is a 1969 Indian Malayalam film, directed by M. A. Rajendran and produced by P. Ramaswami. The film stars Prem Nazir, Madhu, Sharada and Kaviyoor Ponnamma in the lead roles. The film had musical score by Pukazhenthi. ...

'' (1969) * ''

Kochaniyathi ''Kochaniyathi'' is a 1971 Indian Malayalam film, directed and produced by P. Subramaniam. The film stars Madhu, Jayabharathi, Vincent and Ramachandran in the lead roles. The film had musical score by Pukazhenthi. Cast * Madhu as Raju *Jay ...

'' (1971) * ''

Moonu Pookkal ''Moonnupookkal'' is a 1971 Indian Malayalam film, directed by P. Bhaskaran. The film stars Prem Nazir, Sathyan, Madhu and Sheela in the lead roles. The film had musical score by Pukazhenthi. Cast * Prem Nazir * Sathyan * Madhu *Sheela *Ja ...

'' (1971) * ''

Vithukal ''Vithukal'' is a 1971 Indian Malayalam film, directed and produced by P. Bhaskaran. The film stars Madhu, Sheela, Sukumari and Kaviyoor Ponnamma in the lead roles. The film had musical score by Pukazhenthi. Cast * Madhu as Unnikrishnan *S ...

'' (1971) * ''

Sneehadeepame Mizhi Thurakku ''Snehadeepame Mizhi Thurakku'' is a 1972 Indian Malayalam-language film, directed by P. Bhaskaran. The film stars Madhu, Sharada, Kaviyoor Ponnamma and Adoor Bhasi in the lead roles. The film had musical score by Pukazhenthi. Cast * Madhu * ...

'' (1972) * ''

Rakkuyil ''Raakuyil'' is a 1973 Indian Malayalam film, directed by P. Vijayan and produced by P. Bhaskaran. The film stars Adoor Bhasi, Jose Prakash, Sankaradi and Adoor Pankajam in the lead roles. The film had musical score by Pukazhenthi. Cast ...

'' (1973) * '' Kalyana Sougandhikam'' (1975) * ''

Agniparvatham ''Agniparvatham'' () is a 1979 Indian Malayalam film, directed by P. Chandrakumar and produced by K. P. Kottarakkara. The film stars Madhu, Srividya, Ambika and Jose Prakash in the lead roles. The film has musical score by Pukazhenthi. It w ...

'' (1979) * ''

Arayannam ''Arayannam'' is a 1981 Indian Malayalam film, directed by P. Gopikumar. The film stars Sukumari, Sathar, Sukumaran and Jagannatha Varma in the lead roles. The film has musical score by Pukazhenthi. Cast * Sukumari as Nalini's mother *Sathaa ...

'' (1981) * '' Hima Nandini'' (1995) ;Tamil * '' Selviyin Selvan'' (1968) * '' Gurudakshinai'' (1969)

References

* * * {{authority control Tamil film score composers Indian male composers Malayalam film score composers 1927 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Indian composers Musicians from Thiruvananthapuram Film musicians from Kerala Male film score composers 20th-century male musicians