Vairamuthu

Vairamuthu Ramasamy (born 13 July 1953) is an Indian lyricist, poet, and novelist working in the Tamil film industry. He is a prominent figure in the Tamil literary world. A master's graduate from the Pachaiyappa's College in Chennai, he first worked as a translator, while also being a published poet. He entered the Tamil film industry in the year 1980, with the film Nizhalgal, an Ilaiyaraaja musical, directed by Bharathiraja. During the course of his 40-year film career, he has written over 7,500 songs and poems which have won him seven National Awards, the most for any Indian lyricist. He has also been honored with a Padma Shri, a Padma Bhushan and a Sahitya Akademi Award, for his abundant literary output.

Vairamuthu was born on 13 July 1953, to Ramasamy Thevar and his wife Angammal, who were agriculturalists based in the village of Mettoor, in the district of Theni, of Tamil Nadu in a Kallar (Thevar) family. In 1957, his family was forced to move to Vadugapatti, another village in the Theni district, due to the construction of Vaigai Dam across the river Vaigai, which led to evacuation of 14 villages (including Mettur). In his new surroundings, he also took up agriculture in addition to his academics.

From a very young age, Vairamuthu was drawn towards the language and literature of Tamil. The Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu during the 1960s, made a significant impression on his youth and he was inspired by several prominent individuals associated with language, such as Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, 'Perarignar' Annadurai, Kalaignar Mu. Karunanidhi, Subramania Bharathi, Bharathidasan and Kannadasan. He began writing poems from the age of ten and by his early teens, he was noted as a prominent orator and poet in his school. At the age of fourteen, he wrote a group of venba poems, having been inspired by Thiruvalluvar’s Tirukkuṛaḷ.

During the stint of his under-graduation at Pachaiyappa’s College in Chennai, he was acclaimed as a speaker and poet. In his sophomore year, he published his first anthology of poems, titled Vaigarai Megangal ('Clouds at Dawn'), at the age of nineteen. The book was prescribed as part of the curriculum in the Women's Christian College, giving Vairamuthu the distinction of being a writer whose work was part of a syllabus, while he was still a student. He completed a 2 year Master's program in Arts in the field of Tamil literature at the Madras University.

After his education, he began his professional career at the Tamil Nadu Official Language Commission in the mid-1970s, as a translator of law books and documents from English to Tamil, working under Justice Maharajan. In addition to this, he continued writing poetry, bringing out a second anthology of poems in 1979, titled Thiruthi Ezhuthiya Theerpugal ('Revised and rewritten').

He is married to Ponmani, a Tamil scholar and former professor at the Meenakshi College for Women. They have two sons, Madhan Karky and Kabilan, who both work as lyricists and dialogue writers for Tamil films.

Upon reading his poems, he was signed on as a lyricist by the director Bharathiraja for the film Nizhalgal in the year 1980. The first song he wrote in his career, was "Pon Maalai Pozhuthu", which was composed by "Isaignani" Ilaiyaraaja and sung by S.P. Balasubrahmanyam. The first song of his that was released, was "Batrakali Uttamaseeli" (also composed by Ilaiyaraaja) from the film Kaali, which was released four months before Nizhalgal. Vairamuthu quit his career as a translator to work full-time in the film industry.

After Nizhalgal, Vairamuthu and Ilaiyaraaja kicked off a successful collaboration which would last a little more than half a decade. Their joint association with director Bharathiraja, led to some of the most critically acclaimed soundtracks such as Alaigal Oivathillai (which won Vairamuthu his first Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Lyricist), Kaadhal Oviyam, Mann Vasanai, Pudhumai Penn, Oru Kaidhiyin Diary, Muthal Mariyathai (which won Vairamuthu his first National Award for Best Lyricist) and Kadalora Kavithaigal. During the period he was working with Ilaiyaraaja, Vairamuthu collaborated with director Mani Ratnam for the first time in Idhaya Kovil in 1985, penning the song "Naan Padum Mouna Ragam" (which inspired the title of Ratnam's breakthrough Mouna Ragam, which was released in the following year).