Dakshinamoorthy and Yesudas in the Doha awards ceremony in May this year.
Leading music director V Dakshinamoorthy, who composed music for hundreds of film songs in Malayalam and other southern languages over the last seven decades, died in Chennai on Friday.
He was 94 and was keeping indifferent health for some time. He breathed his last at his residence in Mylapore, said the south Indian newspaper Deccan Chronicle.
“Endearingly called as ‘Swamy’ by the film fraternity and his fans, Dakshinamurthy’s songs stood out on account of their classical touch. The singers who rendered songs for him include K J Yesudas, P Suseela, Jayachandran and P Leela,” the report said.
“According to film scholars, it was Dakshinamoorthy, who, for the first time imparted a touch of originality to Malayalam film music in early 1950s by changing the track from merely copying Hindi and Tamil songs,” it added.
“A Carnatic singer himself, Dakshinamoorthy infused classical touch to his songs. At the same time, most of his semi-classical scores are enjoyable to connoisseurs as well as lay music lovers as he displayed an uncanny ability to fit in raga-based songs well into the overall scheme of movies.
“Occasionally, he also experimented by infusing various ragas in the same song, which, according to music buffs, reflected his resourcefulness and innovativeness.”
Born in a family of modest means in Kerala’s Alappuzha district as son of Venketeswara Iyer and Parvathi Ammal, Dakshinamoorthy had his early lessons in music from his mother.
He had visited Doha in May to attend a function where he was honoured for his contribution to music.