Lakshminarayana Vaidyanathan ( ta, லக்ஷ்மிநாராயண வைத்தியநாதன்; kn, ಎಲ್.ವೈದ್ಯನಾಥನ್; 9 April 1942 – 19 May 2007) was an acclaimed musicologist, music director and composer, trained in the classical Carnatic music tradition. Vaidyanathan was born in Chennai to V. Lakshminarayana, and Seethalakshmi, both accomplished musicians. He was the elder brother of accomplished violinist duo

L. Shankar Lakshminarayana Shankar (born 26 April 1950), better known as L. Shankar, Shankar and Shenkar, is an Indian violinist, singer and composer. Early life, family and education Shankar was born in Madras, India, and raised in Ceylon (current- ...

and

L. Subramaniam Lakshminarayana Subramaniam (born 23 July 1947) is an Indian violinist, composer and conductor, trained in the classical Carnatic music tradition and Western classical music. Early years Subramaniam was born in Madras, Madras Presidency, Br ...

. He created the tunes of the iconic TV serial Malgudi Days. All three brothers received their musical training from their father.

Career

Vaidyanathan started his career as an Assistant music director to

G. K. Venkatesh Gurusala Krishnadas Venkatesh (21 September 1927 – 17 November 1993) was an Indian film score composer who primarily worked in Kannada cinema during the 1960s, 1970s and until the late-1980s. He also composed music for Telugu, Malayalam and Ta ...

and composed the score for over 170 films in languages including Tamil and Kannada. His notable works include ''Pesum Padam'', ''Ezhavathu Manithan'', ''Dasaratham'' and ''Marupakkam'' in Tamil and ''Aparichita'', ''

Kubi Matthu Iyala ''Kubi Matthu Iyala'' is a 1992 Indian Kannada-language comedy drama film directed and produced by Sadanand Suvarna and written by Poornachandra Tejaswi based on his own story. The film featured Charuhasan , Raghubir Yadav, Lalithanjali and Vais ...

'', ''Ondu Mutthina Kathe'' in Kannada. He was one of the best music arrangers in the country and was known for his use of rare and unknown instruments, subtly mixing sounds from the

mandolin A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

and

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

with various folk percussion instruments before the advent of present-day technological advances in sound mixing. He collaborated with C.Ashwath and composed music for many

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

movies in the name Ashwath-Vaidi. One catchy and enduring composition of his would be, the Opening and Closing Score 'Thaana na nana' of

Shankar Nag Shankar Nagarakatte (9 November 1954 – 30 September 1990) was an Indian actor, screenwriter, director, and producer known for his work in Kannada-language films and television. A popular cultural icon of Karnataka, Nag is often referred to as ...

Malgudi Days (TV series) ''Malgudi Days'' is an Indian television series that started in 1986, and was filmed in both English (first 13 episodes) and Hindi (all 54 episodes), based on the 1943 short story collection of the same name by R. K. Narayan. The series was di ...

. In 2003, the government of

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

awarded Vaidyanathan with the

Kalaimamani The Kalaimamani is the highest civilian award in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. These awards are given by the ''Tamil Nadu Iyal Isai Nataka Mandram'' (literature, music and theatre), a unit of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Government of ...

for contributions to cinema.

Filmography

;With C. Aswath ;As solo composer *''

Aparichita ''Aparichita'' () is a 1978 Kannada-language romantic mystery thriller film directed by Kashinath, starring Suresh Heblikar, Sobha, M. V. Vasudeva Rao and Mohan. The music was composed by noted composer L. Vaidyanathan. The movie was cri ...

'' (1978) *''

Ezhavathu Manithan ''Ezhavathu Manithan'' () is a 1982 Indian Tamil-language film co-written and directed by K. Hariharan. Inspired by a real-life incident, the film focuses on environmental pollution and exploitation of industrial workers. Starring Raghuvaran in ...

'' (1982) *''Lottery Ticket'' (1982) *'' Anubhava'' (1984) *''

Ondu Muttina Kathe ''Ondu Muttina Kathe'' () is a 1987 Indian Kannada language film directed by Shankar Nag, starring Rajkumar and Archana. It is based on John Steinbeck's 1947 novella '' The Pearl''. This was the last directorial of Shankar Nag. It is also the ...

'' (1987) *''

Pushpaka Vimana Vimāna are mythological flying palaces or chariots described in Hindu texts and Sanskrit epics. The "Pushpaka Vimana" of Ravana (who took it from Kubera; Rama returned it to Kubera) is the most quoted example of a vimana. Vimanas are also mentio ...

'' (1987) *'' Sandhya Raagam'' (1989) *''

Love Maadi Nodu ''Love Maadi Nodu'' () is a 1989 Kannada-language film. Directed by A. Subramanyam, the movie follows the life and ambitions of the hero, Mangalooru Manjunath, played by Kashinath and his sidekick Gopi (child actor Master Manjunath). Upendra ...

'' (1989) *''

En Kadhal Kanmani ''En Kadhal Kanmani'' () is a 1990 Indian Tamil-language romance film directed by T. J. Joy, starring Vikram and Rekha Nambiar. This is the debut film for Vikram. It was released on 17 October 1990 and failed at the box office. Plot Vinod, ...

'' (1990) *''

Marupakkam ''Marupakkam'' ( en, The Other Side, italic=yes) is a 1991 Indian Tamil language, Tamil-language Drama (film and television), drama film written and directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan. An adaptation of the Tamil novella ''Uchi Veyyil'' by Indira P ...

'' (1991) *''

Venal Kinavukal ''Venal Kinavukal'' () is a 1991 Indian Malayalam-language film, directed by K. S. Sethumadhavan. The film stars Sudheesh, Yadu Krishnan, Monisha and Krishnaprasad. The film has musical score by L. Vaidyanathan. This was the last Malayalam film ...

'' (1991) *''

'' (1992) *''

Dasarathan ''Dasarathan'' is a 1993 Indian Tamil language-language action film, directed by actor Kitty making his directorial debut credited under his real name Raja Krishnamoorthy. The film stars Sarathkumar and Heera, while Sivakumar, Saranya and Gan ...

'' (1993) *'' Hrudayanjali'' (2002) *'' Oruththi'' (2003)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaidyanathan, Lakshminarayana 2007 deaths Musicians from Tamil Nadu Tamil film score composers Kannada film score composers Carnatic composers 1942 births Tamil musicians 20th-century Indian musicians Recipients of the Kalaimamani Award