K. Raghavan (2 December 1913 – 19 October 2013), also fondly called Raghavan Master, was a

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 2 ...

music composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

and Carnatic Vocalist. Along with G. Devarajan, V. Dakshinamoorthy and

Baburaj Mohammad Sabir Baburaj was an Indian music composer. He is often credited for the renaissance of Malayalam film music. Baburaj has rendered music to many evergreen Malayalam film songs. Early years Baburaj was born on 9 March 1929 in Kozhikod ...

, Raghavan is often credited for the renaissance of Malayalam film music. He is regarded as the pioneer in contributing Malayalam film songs with its own tunes and styles. Till then, Malayalam film songs were in the tunes of popular Hindi and Tamil film songs and old classical

kritis ''Kriti'' (Sanskrit: कृति, ''kṛti'') is a format of musical composition typical to Carnatic music. ''Kritis'' form the mental backbone of any typical Carnatic music concert and is the longer format of Carnatic song. "Kriti" also means C ...

. Raghavan gave a new direction and identity to Malayalam film music. He composed around 400 songs in Malayalam cinema and was active in the Malayalam film industry for nearly four decades. In 1997, he was honoured with the J. C. Daniel Award,

Kerala government Government of Kerala is the subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior ministers belong to the supreme decision ...

's highest honour for contributions to Malayalam cinema.

Personal life

Raghavan was born to folk singer M Krishnan and Narayani in Tellicherry in North Malabar on 2 December 1913. He was married to (late) Yashoda and had five children, including three daughters and two sons. He died at the age of 99 on 19 October 2013 in Tellicherry.

Early life

Raghavan was born in

Tellicherry Thalassery (), formerly Tellicherry, is a municipality, Commercial City on the Malabar Coast in Kannur district, in the state of Kerala, India, bordered by the districts of Mahé (Pondicherry), Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kasaragod and Kodagu (Karnat ...

near

Kannur Kannur (), formerly known in English as Cannanore, is a city and a municipal corporation in the state of Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Kannur district and situated north of the major port city and commercial hu ...

in the erstwhile Madras Presidency (present-day

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

) to M. Krishnan and Narayani in 1913. He started studying classical music from his childhood and was also a good football player. His professional career was started as a tambura player in

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 ...

, Madras. In 1950 he got transferred to

Calicut Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second l ...

and there he got involved with film artists.

Career

Raghavan set a new trend in Malayalam film music with the release of the 1954 movie ''

Neelakuyil ''Neelakuyil'' ( en, The Blue Cuckoo; ml, നീലക്കുയിൽ) is a 1954 Malayalam film jointly directed by P. Bhaskaran and Ramu Kariat. It is a neo-realistic melodrama and was based on a story written by Uroob who co-wrote the ...

''. Renowned lyricist and Raghavan's friend P. Bhaskaran had penned the songs in Neelakkuyil. Raghavan himself has rendered his voice for one of the songs in ''

Neelakkuyil ''Neelakuyil'' ( en, The Blue Cuckoo; ml, നീലക്കുയിൽ) is a 1954 Malayalam film jointly directed by P. Bhaskaran and Ramu Kariat. It is a neo-realistic melodrama and was based on a story written by Uroob who co-wrote the s ...

''. The song ''Kayalarikathu valayerinjappol'' went on to become an instant hit.

Music career

In a career spanning over four decades, he has scored music for more than sixty Malayalam films and many of his compositions remain ever green classics in Malayalam. Raghavan infused the folk element into Malayalam film music and his rustic melodies replaced the then prevailing trend of imitations of popular Hindi tunes of the day. He also composed songs for plays like

Kerala People's Arts Club Kerala People's Arts Club (KPAC) is a theatrical movement in Kayamkulam, Kerala, India. It was formed in the 1950s by a group of individuals having close ties with Communist Party of India in Kerala. KPAC was very influential in popularising ...

and

. Most of his songs were written by P. Bhaskaran. And he dared try out a variety of voices to Malayalam film music, many of them were new. K. J. Yesudas, P. Jayachandran, P.Susheela,Mehboob, K. P. Brahmanandan, M. Balamuralikrishna, M. L. Vasanthakumari, A. P. Komala, Gayathri Srikrishnan,

Santha P. Nair Shantha P. Nair (6 February 1929 – 26 July 2008) was a playback singer in Malayalam cinema. She was based in Thrissur, Kerala. Early life Born into the famous Ambady family in Thrissur, as one of the five children of Vasudeva Poduval and Lak ...

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 ...

, K. P. Udayabhanu, M.G. Radhakrishnan, P. B. Sreenivas,

Vani Jayaram Vani Jairam (born as Kalaivani on 30 November 1945), also credited as Vani Jayaram, is an Indian singer. She is best known as a playback singer in South Indian cinema. Vani's career started in 1971 and has spanned over five decades. She has do ...

, Jikki, V. T. Murali,

M. G. Sreekumar Malabar Gopalan Sreekumar (born 25 May 1957), better known as M.G. Sreekumar is an Indian playback singer, composer, music producer, television presenter and film producer, who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. He has sung more than 2000 ...

, K. S. Chithra and Sujatha Mohan - they have all sung for him.

As a musician

*First Movie Pullimaan in (1951). *Number of Movies 65 *Number of Songs 405 *State Awards 2

Songs

* ''Kayalarikathu... '' * ''Ellarum chollanu... '' * ''Nazhiyuripalu kondu...'' * ''Hrudaythin romancham... '' * ''Ekantha Kaamuka Ninte Manoratham ... '' * ''Shyamasundara pushpame... '' * ''Aattinakkareyakkare... '' * ''Poornendumukhiyodambalathil...'' * ''Nalikerathinte nattilenikkoru... '' * ''Manjani poonilavil... '' * ''Kathu sookshichoru... '' * ''Appozhe paranjille... '' * ''Manathe Mazhamukil malakale... '' * ''Anuragakkalariyil angathinu vannavale... '' * ''Pambukalkku maalamundu... '' (KPAC drama song) * ''Thalayku meethe... '' (KPAC drama song)

Awards

Civilian Awards by Govt. of India * 2010 –

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

Kerala State Film Awards * 1973 – Best Music Director for ''

Nirmalyam ''Nirmalyam'' ( ml, നിര്‍മ്മാല്യം, ) is a 1973 Indian Malayalam-language film written and directed by M. T. Vasudevan Nair, and starring P. J. Antony, Sumithra and Ravi Menon. P. J. Antony won the National Film Award ...

'' * 1977 – Best Music Director – ''Poojakedukkatha Pookkal''. * 1997 – J. C. Daniel Award from the

Government of Kerala Government of Kerala is the Subnational administrative division, subnational government of the Indian state of Kerala. The government is led by a chief minister, who selects all the other ministers. The chief minister and their most senior mini ...

Other Awards * 2000 – Best Lifetime Achievement Award * 2006 – Swaralaya Yesudas Award * 2011 – M. G. Radhakrishnan Award

References

External links

*
Complete Listing of K Raghavan's Movie Songs

Raghavan the folk master
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raghavan, K. Malayalam film score composers Kerala State Film Award winners People from Thalassery Recipients of the Padma Shri in arts 1913 births 2013 deaths 20th-century Indian composers Film musicians from Kerala 21st-century Indian composers Indian male film score composers 20th-century Indian male singers 20th-century Indian singers 21st-century Indian male singers 21st-century Indian singers Male Carnatic singers Carnatic singers J. C. Daniel Award winners