Venkateswaran Dakshinamoorthy (Malayalam: വി ദക്ഷിണാമൂര്‍ത്തി ; 22 December 1919 – 2 August 2013) was a veteran carnatic musician and music director of Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi films, predominantly in Malayalam films. He has set scores for the songs in over 125 films. He has to his credit as many as 859 songs composed over a period of 50 years.

Biography

Dakshinamoorthy was born on 22 December 1919 as Venkateswaran Dakshinamoorthy, to D. Venkateswara Iyer and Parvathi Ammal in Alappuzha district, Kerala (Travancore, British India). His interest in music was nurtured by his mother who taught him keerthanas of Thyagaraja Swamikal when he was still a child. After finishing S.S.L.C., he learned carnatic music form Venkatachalam Potty in Trivandrum.

He learned more about carnatic music and became an expert of it. He debuted in the film industry with Nalla Thanka, produced by Kunchacko and K. V. Koshy under the banner of K & K Productions. The hero of the film was Augustin Joseph, father of renowned singer K. J. Yesudas. The film also had songs sung by Augustin. Dakshinamoorthy went on to set scores for K. J. Yesudas and his son Vijay Yesudas (for the film Idanazhiyil Oru Kalocha, directed by Bhadran) as well, thus achieving a rare treat.

He set the scores for many songs written by Sreekumaran Thampi, forming a famous musician-songwriter duo like the Vayalar Ramavarma - G. Devarajan and P. Bhaskaran - Baburaj duos. He had R. K. Shekhar, father of the music director A. R. Rahman as his assistant for a few films, who later became a musician in his own right. He went on to direct music for over 125 films including Navalokam, Seetha, Viyarppinte Vila, Sri Guruvayoorappan, Kadamattathachan and Indulekha.

His evergreen compositions include Swapnangal... Swapnangale ningal...(Kavyamela), Pattu padiyurakkan njan...(Seetha), Uthara swayamvaram...(Danger Biscuit), Kattile pazhmulam...(Vilaykku Vangiya Veena) and Vathil pazhuthilooden...(Idanazhiyil Oru Kalocha). He was guru of many singers and Music Directors including P. Leela, P. Susheela, Kalyani Menon and Ilaiyaraja. In 1971 he won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Music Director.

In 2003, he received the coveted 'Sangeetha Saraswathi' Award from the hands of revered Poojya Sri Guruji Viswanath of Manava Seva Kendra, Bangalore. In the year 2008, he composed 4 songs for the Malayalam Movie Mizhikal Sakshi. He died on 2 August 2013 at the age of 93 in Chennai owing to age related illnesses.

Awards

• 2010 - Ramashramam Unneerikutty Award
• 2010 - Honorary Doctorate by Mahatma Gandhi University
• 2007 - Swaralaya Yesudas Award
• 1998 - Kerala State Film Award for Lifetime Achievement - J. C. Daniel Lifetime Achievement Award from the Government of Kerala
• 1971 - Kerala State Film Award for Best Music Director