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

playback singer A playback singer, also known as a ghost singer, is a singer whose singing is pre-recorded for use in films. Playback singers record songs for soundtracks, and actors or actresses lip-sync the songs for cameras; the actual singer does not app ...

, record producer, Carnatic musician, multi-instrumentalist,Ilavelpu in Naati 101 Chitralu, S. V. Rama Rao, Kinnera Publications, Hyderabad, 2006, pp: 129-31. and an eminent violinist known for his works in the South Indian film industry,

Hindi cinema Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, refers to the film industry based in Mumbai, engaged in production of motion pictures in Hindi language. The popular term Bollywood, is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (fo ...

, Sri Lankan cinema, and

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

. Dakshinamurthi is the grandson of Susarla Dakshinamurthi Sr. who belongs to the student clan of saint Tyagaraja. He is known for his compositions in works such as ''Narada Naradi'' (1946) (music director), ''

Laila Majnu ''Layla & Majnun'' ( ar, مجنون ليلى ; Layla's Mad Lover) is an old story of Arab origin, about the 7th-century Bedouin poet Qays ibn al-Mulawwah and his ladylove Layla bint Mahdi (later known as Layla al-Aamiriya). "The Layla ...

'' (1949) (playback singer), ''Paramanandayya Sishyula Katha'' (1950) (playback singer and music director), '' Samsaram'' (1950) (music director), '' Sri Lakshmamma Katha'' (1950) (playback singer and music director), '' Sarvadhikari'' (1951) (playback singer and music director), ''

Yaar Paiyyan Yaar? or Yaar may refer to: * Yaar? (film), a 1985 Indian Tamil-language film * Yaar? (TV series), a 2017 Singaporean Tamil-language TV series * Yaar (book) ''Yaar'' () is an autobiographical book by Nepali writer Nayan Raj Pandey. It is the fi ...

'' (1957) (music director), ''Santhanam'' (1955) (playback singer and music director), '' Jungle Moon Men'' (1955), (re-recordist and conductor), '' Ilavelpu'' (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, ''

Sri Madvirata Parvam ''Srimad Virata Parvam'' is a 1979 Telugu-language Hindu mythological film, produced and directed by N. T. Rama Rao under his Ramakrishna Cine Studios banner. It stars N. T. Rama Rao, Vanisri, Nandamuri Balakrishna and music composed by Susarl ...

'' (1979), '' Srimadvirat Veerabrahmendra Swami Charitra'' (1984).

Biography

Early life

He was born on 11 November 1921 in Pedakallepalli,

Krishna District Krishna district is district in the coastal Andhra Region in Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, with Machilipatnam as its administrative headquarters. It is the coastal district of Andhra Pradesh. Machilipatnam is the most populated city in the di ...

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. T ...

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

Ghantasala Ghantasala may refer to: People * Ghantasala (musician) (Ghantasala Venkateswara Rao, 1922-1974), Telugu singer and composer * Ghantasala Balaramayya (1906 - after 1952), Telugu film producer and director * Ghantasala Sai Srinivas, professionally ...

and A. M. Rajah in Telugu and Tamil languages respectively. He then ventured into Hollywood, and became a re-recordist, and conductor for works such as '' Jungle Moon Men'' (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 multi ...

. Dakshinamurthy has produced hits tracks such as ''Challani Raja O Chandamama'' written by Raghunath Panigrahi. He sang ''Challani Punnami Vennelalone'' casting Relangi in the film. His music for '' Nartanasala'' (1963) particularly the songs ''Evari Kosam Ee Mandhahasam'', ''Naravara Kuruvara'' ( S. Janaki), ''Janani Siva Kaamini'' ( P. Susheela), ''Salalitha Raga Sudharasa Saaram'' ( M. Balamuralikrishna) and ''Sakhiya Vivarinchave'' are forever memorable. Later he worked on musical hits such as ''

'' (1979) and '' Srimadvirat Veerabrahmendra Swami Charitra'' (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