Venkateswaran Dakshinamoorthy (9 December 1919 – 2 August 2013) was a veteran carnatic musician and composer and music director of Malayalam, Tamil and Hindi films. His work was predominantly in Malayalam cinema.
He has set scores for the songs in over 125 films, and composed as many as 1400 songs over a period of 63 years. Fondly known as Swami, he was instrumental in pioneering classical music-based film songs. Revered as one of the forefathers of the Malayalam music industry, he has mentored many of the renowned contemporary singers and composers including P. Leela and K. J. Yesudas.
In 1998, he was honoured with the J. C. Daniel Award, Kerala government's highest honour for his contributions to Malayalam cinema.
Dakshinamoorthy was born in a Tamil Brahmin family on 9 December 1919 as Venkateswaran Dakshinamoorthy Iyer, to Parvathiammal and D. Venkateswara Iyer a Bank Officer, at Mullakkal in Quilon, Travancore (Present-day Alappuzha district, Kerala). He was the eldest among the seven children of his parents, whom he funnily described as 'those like seven notes'. He had two brothers and four sisters. His interest in music was nurtured by his mother, who taught him keerthanas of Thyagaraja Swamikal when he was still a child. He had grasped at least 27 songs just by hearing them when they were being rendered by his mother and sister. When he was ten years old, Venkatachalam Potti in Thiruvananthapuram taught him Carnatic music and the tutelage continued for three years. His first public performance was when he was 13 years old, at the Ambalapuzha Sri Krishna temple. It was his habit to offer prayers to "Vaikkathappa Annadhaana Prabho" or Lord Shiva daily, in the morning, and before going to bed. His primary schooling was in Sanaathana Dharma Vidyashaala, Alappuzha, till the 5th standard. He continued in Kiliparam School. He completed his HSC at Shri Moola Vilasa High School, Thiruvananthapuram, and then he decided that music had to be his future. After finishing S.S.L.C., he learned carnatic music from Venkatachalam Potty in Thiruvananthapuram. Swami came to Vaikom at the age of 16, practiced and taught music. During that period when he was 20-22, he received "The Nirmaalya Darshan" of Vaikathappan for three and a half years continuously. This feat played a big part in his route to greatness.
There is an incident that happened in Ambalapuzha. One midnight as Ambalapuzha was lashed by torrential rain, Ganjira Vidwan Kaduva Krishnan knocked at the doors of Dakshinamoorthy's house, inviting him to perform at a marriage Katcheri at Vaikkom the next day. His mother permitted him to do so and the two walked up to the Karumaadi boat jetty at Ambalapuzha and reached Vaikkom the next morning, 8 a.m. After having a bath and a good darshan of Vaikkathappa's, they reached Kaidarathu Madam for the concert. At the request of Kochi-based Konkini Tavil Vidwan to teach music to his relatives, Dakshinamoorthy remained at Vaikkom. He stayed there for 42 months and during this stay, he would sing daily at the temple, attend Nirmalya Darsanam and sing on all Ashtamis at the temple.
In 1948, he came to Chennai with his parents. He married Shrimathi Kalyani on 28 January 1948. He entered the film world in 1948. He debuted in the film industry in 1950 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, a well-known stage actor and singer, who was also the father of the renowned singer K. J. Yesudas. The film also had songs sung by Augustine Joseph. The producers wanted Dakshinamoorthy to compose a song on Lord Vinayaka and that was the first song he began his film industry career with. He also composed music for "The Opera" at Kalamandalam during the same period, where he graced through 8 Operas and 30 dance dramas.
Dakshinamoorthy went on to set scores for K. J. Yesudas, his son Vijay Yesudas (for the film Idanazhiyil Oru Kalocha, directed by Bhadran) and his granddaughter Ameya (for the film Shyama Raagam, awaiting release) as well, thus achieving a rare treat.
He set the scores for many songs written by Sreekumaran Thampi and Abhayadev, 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 padiyurakkam njan...(Seetha), Uthara swayamvaram...(Danger Biscuit), Kattile pazhmulam...(Vilaykku Vangiya Veena), Hrudaya Saraslie, Chandrikayil, Kattile Pazhmulam, Manohari Nin, Sowgandhigangale, Aakashamand Vathil pazhuthilooden...(Idanazhiyil Oru Kalocha).
He was guru of many singers and Music Directors including P. Leela, P. Susheela, Kalyani Menon and Ilaiyaraaja. In 1971 he won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Music Director.
The duo of Swami and Srikumaran Thambi contributed countless chart-toppers to the Malayalam Film Industry. 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 four songs for the Malayalam movie Mizhikal Sakshi.
Even at the age of 93, his endeavors towards music had not slowed down. He was working on a movie project, "Shyama Raagam", rendering music for the same.
His first trip to Madras was in 1942, when he was to sing in a 30-minute programme on AIR. He was a regular visitor to the AIR for the next 4 years after which he settled in Mylapore in 1948. Between 1942 and 1957, he performed around 500 carnatic concerts in Kerala. He has also performed at international venues such as the Dubai Dala Festival in Dubai, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi and Kuwait. "Dakshinamurthy Sangeetha Utsavam" has been taking place every year since 2013 at Perungotukara.
His disciples included talented singers like N.C. Vasantakokilam, Kaviyoor Revamma, Kalyani Menon, Ambili, Mithun, Srilatha, Shereen Peters, Bhavadhaarini, Mithun Jayaraj etc.
Generations of singers have sung under the Bheeshmacharya of Indian Music, including P. Leela, Kamukara Purushothaman, Balamurali Krishna, K.J.Yesudas, P.B. Srinivas, Ghantashaala, T.M.S., S.P.B., Augustin Joseph, Jeyachandran, A.M. Raja, Vijay Yesudas and his daughters, M.L.V, P. Susheela, S. Janaki, L.R. Eashwari, Madhuri, Ambili, Kalyani Menon, K.S. Chitra, Vaani Jeyaram, Sujatha, Madhubala Krishnan, Unni Krishnan, Krishnaraj, Minmini, Swetha, Unni Menon, M.G. Sreekumar, Jolly Abraham, Biju Narayanan, and Manjari.
Ilaiyaraaja, R. K. Shekhar (father of A.R. Rahman) and many more composers have been assistants in Swami's music recording sessions.
Dakshinamoorthy is to be highly credited for his introduction of P. Suseela to Malayalam cinema through 'Seetha'. The song 'Pattu Paadi Urakkam' sung by P. Suseela in that film is still popular in Kerala. He also introduced other singers such as Ambili, K.P. Brahmanandham, Shereen Peters, Vinodhini, Sree Latha, Kalyani Menon, etc.
He has written three books namely Thiagabrahmam (Tamil – 1965), Aathma Dheepam (Tamil – 1989) and Sathya Mithram (Malayalam – 1992).