Tamil Nadu: Scholar, poet, film lyricist Pulavar Pulamaipithan dies

CHENNAI: Tamil scholar, poet,veteran film lyricist and former presidium chairman of AIADMK, Pulamaipithan passed away on Tuesday at a city hospital where he was undergoing treatment for health complications. He was 86 years old.
Political leaders from the state including cmf Minister M K Stalin and former chief ministers and AIADMK leaders, Edappadi K Palaniswami, O Panneerselvam expressed their condolences.
“A firm believer in Dravidian ideology, he was involved in politics and stood by (former chief minister) M G Ramachandran in his time. He was a recipient of Periyar award and several such awards. I express my condolences to the bereaved members of his family, friends and AIADMK partymen,” M K Stalin said in a statement.
Born as Ramaswamy in Coimbatore in 1935, he pursued Tamil literature and was training to become a poet, when he landed a chance to write for MGR in the movie Kudiyirundha Koil.
He adopted the name Pulamaipithan and is addressed with the moniker ‘Pulavar’ (poet). He was a strong supporter of the LTTE and Tamil Eelam.
His first song, ‘Naan yaar, Naan yaar’ with its alliteration and literary merit announced his arrival in style. He had also served as deputy chairman of the state legislative council when MGR was chief minister and was also honoured as poet laureuate of the state government.
He entered the film industry at the age of 29 years and in a film career which spanned over five decades, he has penned lyrics for matinee idols across generations -- MGR to Vijay.
“I enjoy writing lyrics to tune as it expands my imagination,” Pulamaipithan said in a video interview he gave in 2008. He also believed in espousing good values to society through his lyrics, thereby marking a perfect symbiotic relationship with MGR, who is known for using film songs to accentuate his image.
While he had written several songs espousing social values, the song ‘Thenpaandi cheemaiyile’ composed by Ilayaraaja from the 1987 film ‘Nayakan’ starring actor-politician, Kamal Haasan achieved cult status among a generation of fans.