Ramaya Muttusamy (5 January 1926 – 27 June 1988) was a prolific

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n music director and singer. He handled the music for most of K. Gunaratnam's productions. Muttusamy was born on 5 January 1926, in Nagercoil, Tamil Nadu, India, the only son of virtuoso musician Ramaya Baghwather. At a young age, Muttusamy was introduced to the violin and mastered the instrument by the age of ten.

Music career

Muttusamy worked as the Assistant Music Director on the first Sinhalese film ''

Kadawunu Poronduwa ''Kadawunu Poronduwa'' ( Sinhala: ''කඩවුනු පොරොන්දුව'', "The Broken Promise") was the first film to be made in the Sinhala language; it is generally considered to have heralded the coming of Sinhala Cinema. The fil ...

'' in 1941 under the tutelage of R. Narayana Iyer. He subsequently travelled to Sri Lanka and found work there as a member of the state-run

Radio Ceylon Radio Ceylon ( si, ලංකා ගුවන් විදුලි සේවය ''Lanka Guwan Viduli Sevaya'', ta, இலங்கை வானொலி, ''ilankai vanoli'') is a radio station based in Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) and the first ...

's Tamil Orchestra (20 October 1952) and then with the Sundera Murugan Studio in Kandana built by producer Nayagam (1953). Enlisted by successful producer K. Gunaratnam, Muttusamy handled his first lead music direction for the 1953 Sinhalese film '' Prema Tharangaya''. In the film he directed the Sinhalese playback singers Dharmadasa and Latha Walpola on what would be their debut as well. Subsequently he oversaw the direction for over 225 films including ''Ahankara Sthree'' (1953), ''Mathalang'' (1955), ''

Sandesaya ''Sandesaya'' (Sinhalese language word meaning ''The Message'') is a 1960 film. The film based on the war between the Sinhalese people and the Portuguese invaders in Sri Lanka. It was directed by Sri Lankan film director Lester James Peries. It w ...

'' (1961), ''Allapu Gedera'' and '' Chandiya'' (1965) working with playback singers like the Walpolas,

Mohideen Baig Kala Suri Alhaj Kareem Mohideen Baig ( si, මොහිදින් බෙග්, ar, محي الدين بيك; 5 December 1919 – 4 November 1991), popularly as Mohideen Baig, was a Sri Lankan musician. One of the most influential singers in ...

, J. A. Milton Perera,

H. R. Jothipala Hettiarachchige Reginald Jothipala ( si, එච්.ආර්. ජෝතිපාල; 12 February 1936 – 7 July 1987), popularly as H. R. Jothipala, was a Sri Lankan playback singer in the Sinhalese language, Sinhala cinema as well as a film ac ...

Angeline Gunathilake Angelina Rachel de Lanerolle ( si, ඇන්ජලීන් ගුණතිලක; 23 December 1939 – 29 March 2019), popularly known as Angeline Gunathilake or Anjalin Gunathilaka, was a Sri Lankan singer, primarily working as a playback sin ...

, Sujatha Aththanayaka, G. S. B. Rani and Narada Disasekara. He rejoined Radio Ceylon in 1958 and served with the organization until 1981.

Singer

Muttusamy was a singer too. ''Madhura Yaame'' with Sujatha Perera (later Attanayake) in the film Sithaka Mahima was a popular rendition by him.

Awards

Compiled from a newspaper article. *Muttusamy was awarded an honorary Sri Lankan citizenship by prime minister Sir

John Kotelawala General Sir John Lionel Kotelawala ( si, ශ්‍රිමත් ජෝන් ලයනල් කොතලාවල; 4 April 1897 – 2 October 1980) was a Sri Lankan statesman, who served as the 3rd Prime Minister of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) fro ...

(June 1956). *A certificate for Best Music director, from the South Indian Journalists’ Association for his debut as film music director for the Sinhala film Prema Tharangaya *Deepasikha award for composing music for the most number of movies (1974). *The OCIC recognized and honoured him for his valuable contributions to Sinhala film music. *Layagnana Vaaridhi awarded by the then Regional Development Minister

C. Rajadurai Chelliah Rajadurai ( ta, செல்லையா இராசதுரை; born 27 July 1927) is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician and former government minister, Member of Parliament and Mayor of Batticaloa. Rajadurai was born on 27 July 1927. Raj ...

(3 January 1987)

Personal life

Muttusamy married the Sinhalese B. D. E. Neeliya Perera on 7 October 1961, and had four children, Mohanraj, Chitrangi, Prasanna Vadhani and Keerthika. Mohanraj would follow in his father's footsteps pursuing a career in music. Muttusamy died on 27 June 1988.

References

External links

People from Kanyakumari district 1926 births 1988 deaths 20th-century Sri Lankan male singers Sri Lankan composers Sri Lankan Tamil musicians Indian emigrants to Sri Lanka Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka People from Nagercoil {{SriLanka-singer-stub