Our Patron

Our Patron

Shri. M.S. Viswanathan

Shri. M.S. Viswanathan fondly called, as “Mellisai Mannar” meaning “The King of Light Music” or simply “MSV” is the only Film Music Composer to have composed incredible music for more than 1,740 movies, which besides Tamil include Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi languages.

Being conferred with the prestigious title “Isai Perarignar” (Usually reserved for Classical Carnatic Musicians) in recognition of his service to Tamil Film Music, MSV holds a magnificent career in the cinema industry since 1952.

Manaiyangathu Subramania Viswanathan was born on July 9, 1932 in Elapulli, a village near Palakkad, Kerala. At a very young age, MSV developed a deep interest for music but was unable to afford regular training.

Later, MSV relocated to Madras and joined Jupiter Pictures, under the band of renowned Music Director S.M. Subbiah Naidu where he started composing his own tunes by playing the harmonium under closed doors. The immense talent within MSV was duly recognized and S.M. Subbiah Naidu implemented some of MSV’s compositions without revealing the name.

MSV made a splash on the Tamil cinema horizon during the 1950s-1960s as part of the duo, Viswanathan-Ramamurthi. The unparalleled duo started off their career with the movie “Panam” in 1952. MSV’s magnificent leap ahead took place during 1960’s where music played an imperative role for the resounding success of every movie.

All his mesmerizing compositions during 1960’s are still remembered for their melody, that which earned him the celebrated title “Mellisai Mannar".

(Veteran Film Music Composer Shri. M.S. Viswanathan with Radha Vijayan, Founder – Mirra Fine Arts Pte Ltd)

MSV was also admired for his variety in instruments - accordion, piccolo, melodeon, xylophone, tuba, bongos, keyboard and Indian and Western and even African percussion instruments - which had never been used earlier in Tamil Cinema.

After an illustrious career spanning for more than 50 years, the name “MSV” is acknowledged as a University where upcoming young music composers take up a course and learn a fragment of his nuances and techniques in Film Music.