MK Arjunan, renowned Malayalam music composer, dies of age-related ailments in Kochi

Renowned Malayalam music composer MK Arjunan, popularly known as Arjunan Master, passed away on Monday at his residence in Palluruthy, Kochi.

He was 84. Arjunan died of age-related ailments.

While he initially created music for theatre, Master Arjunan started his career as a composer in cinema in 1968 with Malayalam film Karutha Pournami.

In a career spanning more than half a century, Arjunan had scored music for over 500 songs in around 200 films.

Arjunan Master is credited with giving AR Rahman his first break in the 1981 film Adima Changala, where the Oscar-winning music maestro stepped in as keyboard player.

Arjunan was known for his association with lyricist Sreekumaran Thampi and both have together composed music for nearly 50 films. The duo emerged as the most prolific composer-lyricist partnership in Malayalam film industry.

Sound designer and editor Resul Pookutty, who won an Oscar for Slumdog Millionaire, expressed his grief over the demise of Arjunan.

Here is his tweet

My heartfelt condolences .... many of your tunes are etched in my memory, your artistry has shaped up many generations of music lovers! Your absence is a vacuum.... RIP 🙏🙏🙏 pic.twitter.com/evcSuuCa7M

— resul pookutty (@resulp) April 6, 2020

Arjunan had won his first-ever Kerala state award in 2017 for composing songs in director Jayaraj’s film Bhayanakam.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed his grief over the death of Arjunan. He said that the passing away of the great musician is a huge loss not just to the music industry but to the society as well.

The last rites ceremony will be performed at Kochi later today.