Susarla Dakshinamurthi Jr. (Telugu: సుసర్ల దక్షిణామూర్తి; 1921 – 2012) was an Indian music composer, playback singer,

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure. Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Carnatic music 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 ...

ian, multi-instrumentalist,Ilavelpu in Naati 101 Chitralu, S. V. Rama Rao, Kinnera Publications, Hyderabad, 2006, pp: 129-31. and an eminent

violinist The following lists of violinists are available: * List of classical violinists, notable violinists from the baroque era onwards * List of contemporary classical violinists, notable contemporary classical violinists * List of violinist/compose ...

known for his works in the

South Indian film industry The Cinema of South India refers collectively to the six distinct film industries based in Southern region of India namely Tamil, Telugu, Tulu, Kannada, Konkani, and Malayalam. Although these industries developed independently for a long p ...

, Hindi cinema, Sri Lankan cinema, and Hollywood. Dakshinamurthi is the grandson of Susarla Dakshinamurthi Sr. who belongs to the student clan of saint

Tyagaraja Thyagaraja (Telugu: త్యాగరాజ) (4 May 1767 – 6 January 1847), also known as Thyāgayya and in full as Kakarla Thyagabrahmam, was a composer and vocalist of Carnatic music, a form of Indian classical music. Tyagaraja and his ...

. He is known for his compositions in works such as ''Narada Naradi'' (1946) (music director), '' Laila Majnu'' (1949) (playback singer), ''Paramanandayya Sishyula Katha'' (1950) (playback singer and music director), '' Samsaram'' (1950) (music director), ''

Sri Lakshmamma Katha ''Sri Lakshmamma Katha'' () is a 1950 Telugu-language film, produced and directed by Ghantasala Balaramayya under the Pratibha Productions banner. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao and Anjali Devi, with music composed by C. R. Subburaman. Plot ...

'' (1950) (playback singer and music director), ''

Sarvadhikari {{for, the motion picture, Sarvadhikari (film) Sarvādhikārī is a title with diverse uses in India, including: *an old title for the Chief minister of a southern Indian ruler, notably of: **under the Western Ganga Dynasty's Maharaja Dharma ...

'' (1951) (playback singer and music director), '' Yaar Paiyyan'' (1957) (music director), ''Santhanam'' (1955) (playback singer and music director), ''

Jungle Moon Men ''Jungle Moon Men'' (1955) is the fifteenth Jungle Jim film produced by Columbia Pictures. It features Johnny Weissmuller in his second performance as the protagonist adventurer Johnny Weissmuller. The film was directed by Charles S. Gould and wri ...

'' (1955), (re-recordist and conductor), ''

Ilavelpu ''Ilavelpu'' () is a 1956 Telugu-language drama film, produced by L. V. Prasad under the Lakshmi Productions banner and directed by D. Yoganand. It stars Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Anjali Devi and Jamuna, with music composed by Susarla Dakshin ...

'' (1956) (playback singer and music director), ''Veera Kankanam'' (1957) (music director), ''

Annapurna Annapurna (; ne, अन्नपूर्ण) is a mountain situated in the Annapurna mountain range of Gandaki Province, north-central Nepal. It is the tenth highest mountain in the world at above sea level and is well known for the diffic ...

'' (1959) (music director), ''Krishna Leelalu'' (1959) (music director), '' Narthanasala'' (1963), which won the

National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film The National Film Award for Second Best Feature Film was one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It was one of several a ...

, '' Sri Madvirata Parvam '' (1979), ''

Srimadvirat Veerabrahmendra Swami Charitra ''Sri Madvirat Veerabrahmendra Swami Charitra'' is a 1984 Indian Telugu-language biographical film, based on life of Pothuluri Veerabrahmam, produced and directed by N. T. Rama Rao under his Ramakrishna Cine Studios banner. N. T. Rama Rao port ...

'' (1984).

Biography

Early life

He was born on 11 November 1921 in

Pedakallepalli Pedakallēpalli is a village in Krishna district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Mopidevi mandal of Machilipatnam revenue division. It is one of the villages in the mandal to be a part of Andhra Pradesh Capital Region. ...

, Krishna District of present-day Andhra Pradesh, India to Krishnabrahma Sastry, who was a musician and teacher and Smt. Annapurnamma. He graduated with an arts degree in classical music, and became a proportional violinist at the age of nine. He subsequently worked as

Harmonium The pump organ is a type of free-reed organ that generates sound as air flows past a vibrating piece of thin metal in a frame. The piece of metal is called a reed. Specific types of pump organ include the reed organ, harmonium, and melodeon. Th ...

player for the label

His Master's Voice His Master's Voice (HMV) was the name of a major British record label created in 1901 by The Gramophone Co. Ltd. The phrase was coined in the late 1890s from the title of a painting by English artist Francis Barraud, which depicted a Jack Russ ...

in 1938. He then worked for

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

as A-grade artist in the late 1930s, and became the Director for South Indian region.

Film career

He then moved to cinema and conducted music alongside

C. R. Subburaman C. R. Subbaraman also known as C. S. Ram (1916–1952) was a famous South Indian film music composer and producer. He was born to Ramasamy at Chintamani village in Thirunelveli, in present-day Tamil Nadu. Music director Shankar of Shankar–Gan ...

. He made

Lata Mangeshkar Lata Mangeshkar () (born as Hema Mangeshkar; 28 September 1929 – 06 February 2022) was an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer. She is widely considered to have been the greatest and most influential singers in India. Her con ...

sing the ever popular song ''Nidurapora Thammuda'', in his movie ''

Santhanam Santhanam or Santanam ( te, సంతానం) is an Indian name that may refer to: People * K. Santhanam (1895–1980), Indian politician * Madabusi Santanam Raghunathan (born 1941), Indian mathematician * Maharajapuram Santhanam (1928–1992) ...

'' (1955). '' Samsaram'' (1950) movie was a musical hit film with ever popular song ''Samsaram Samsaram'' by Ghantasala and

A. M. Rajah Aemala Manmadharaju Rajah, popularly known as A. M. Rajah, was an Indian playback singer and music director. Early life A. M. Rajah was born on 1 July 1929 in Cchamanchipuram, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh. His father died when he was thr ...

in Telugu and Tamil languages respectively. He then ventured into Hollywood, and became a re-recordist, and conductor for works such as ''

'' (1955), and several others by

Columbia pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...

. Dakshinamurthy has produced hits tracks such as ''Challani Raja O Chandamama'' written by

Raghunath Panigrahi Suramani' Pandit'' Raghunath Panigrahi (; 10 August 1932 – 25 August 2013) was an Odissi music Guru, vocalist, composer and music director. He is most known for his renditions of Jayadeva's Gita Govinda and his vocal support for his wife, th ...

. He sang ''Challani Punnami Vennelalone'' casting Relangi in the film. His music for ''

Nartanasala Nartanasala may refer to: * Nartanasala (1963 film) ''Nartanasala'' () is a 1963 Indian Telugu-language Hindu mythological film directed by Kamalakara Kameswara Rao and written by Samudrala Sr. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, Savitri, S. V. Ranga ...

'' (1963) particularly the songs ''Evari Kosam Ee Mandhahasam'', ''Naravara Kuruvara'' (

S. Janaki Sistla Janaki (born 23 April 1938) is an Indian playback singer and occasional music composer from Andhra Pradesh. She is referred to respectfully as "Janaki Amma" and Nightingale of South India. She is one of the best-known playback singers in ...

), ''Janani Siva Kaamini'' (

P. Susheela Pulapaka Susheela (born 13 November 1935), popularly known as P. Susheela, is an Indian playback singer associated with the South Indian cinema primarily from Andhra Pradesh for over six decades. She is one of the greatest and best-known playba ...

), ''Salalitha Raga Sudharasa Saaram'' ( M. Balamuralikrishna) and ''Sakhiya Vivarinchave'' are forever memorable. Later he worked on musical hits such as '' Sri Madvirata Parvam'' (1979) and ''

'' (1984). He then ventured into film production and produced ''Mohini Rukmangada'' (1960) and ''Rama Sundari'' (1962) under Anuradha Movies.

Later life and death

Murthi developed

Diabetic retinopathy Diabetic retinopathy (also known as diabetic eye disease), is a medical condition in which damage occurs to the retina due to diabetes mellitus. It is a leading cause of blindness in developed countries. Diabetic retinopathy affects up to 80 perc ...

and lost vision in one eye in 1972 and the other in 1987. Murthi died at his residence in Chennai on 9 Feb 2012. He expressed difficulty in breathing when an ambulance was called in. That was only 5 minutes before his death when he said that he did not want to be taken to the hospital. Just as he had wanted he died at 9.30 PM when the ambulance reached at 9.35 PM.

Selected filmography

Music director

Playback singer

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dakshinamurthi, Susarla Telugu film score composers Telugu playback singers 1921 births 2012 deaths Tamil musicians Tamil singers 20th-century Indian composers 20th-century Indian singers People from Krishna district Indian male playback singers Film directors from Andhra Pradesh Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners Columbia Records artists Tamil playback singers Bollywood playback singers Singers from Chennai Film musicians from Andhra Pradesh Tamil film score composers Singers from Andhra Pradesh Indian male film score composers 20th-century Indian male singers