M.K. Arjunan, the last of the composers from the golden period of Malayalam cinema, died at Kochi in the early hours of Monday. He was 84.
In career that spanned over five decades, he tuned about 700 songs, many of them among the biggest hits of all time. His songs were celebrated as much as those of great composers like G. Devarajan (who was also his guru), M.S. Baburaj, V. Dakshinamoorthy and K. Raghavan.
Some of his songs were so good, many believed they were tuned by Devarajan, one of the most prolific and gifted composers of Indian cinema.
Arjunan may have been influenced by the style of his guru, but he never copied any of his tunes, or of anybody else for that matter. He belonged to an era when Malayalam film music had so many original tunes composed by some brilliantly original music directors.
His famous tunes include Yadukula rathidevane vide… (Rest House), Kasthoori manakkunnallo kaatte… (Picnic), Nin maniyarayile… (CID Nazir), Chandrarashmi than… (Anweshansm), Sukhamoru bindu…(Ithu Manushyano), Chembaka thaikal pootha… (Kathirunna Nimiaham), Kuyilinte maninaadam… (Padmavyooham) and Mallikappoovin madhura gandham… (Honeymoon).
Arjunan was among the first to notice the extraordinary gift of A.R. Rahman. He had made the prodigy play the keyboard for him.
