M S Viswanathan, one of the most popular music composers of south Indian cinema, passed away at a Chennai hospital on Tuesday morning. He was 87.
Viswanathan, known in the industry as MSV, has a huge body of work in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam with over 750 films. Sivaji Ganeshan’s Panam in 1952 was his debut creation.
He is a recipient of Kalaimamani and several other music awards. Born in Palakkad in Kerala, Viswanathan had scored music for over 1,000 films, some of them in association with his partner Ramamurthy.Later they parted ways. MSV is survived by four sons and three daughters. His last rites will be performed on Wednesday. The Tamil cinema industry condoled the death of Viswanathan with actors and producers describing his death as an irreparable loss.