Bichu Thirumala, the veteran Malayalam lyricist and poet, died of a heart attack at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.
He was 80.
According to a Mathrubhumi report, the lyricist was undergoing treatment for breathing-related issues at the private hospital. He was put on ventilator support after his health worsened. Thirumala was declared dead on Friday at 3.15 am.
Born as B Sivasankaran Nair on February 13, 1941, in Travancore to CG Bhaskaran Nair and Sasthamangalam Pattanikkunnu Veettil Parukutty Amma, Thirumala made his debut with the 1972 film titled Bhaja Govindam. Although the film did not release, Thirumala’s song was aired by Radio Ceylon in the early-1970s.
Thirumala was known for his association with legendary lyricist ONV Kurup. He had written songs for some famous music composers including Shyam, Raveendran, MS Viswanathan, Ouseppachan, G Devarajan, and Ilaiyaraaja among several others. He had also collaborated with AR Rahman for Yodha, the sole Malayalam film AR Rahman has worked on.
Thirumala had won the Kerala State Film Awards under the Best Lyrics category for films Thrishna (1981), Thenum Vayambum (1981) and Kadinjool Kalyanam (1991).
Some of his popular songs include Brahma Muhoorthathil from Bhaja Govindam, Hridayam Devalayalam from Theruvu Geetham, Padakali from Yodha, Ottakambi Nadam from Thenum Vayambum and Varuvanillaarumee from Manichithrathazhu.
Several artists from the Malayalam film industry, including actors Mohanlal, Mammootty, took to their social media handles to pay tribute to the late lyricist.
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Mohanlal in a social media post said, “He was a genius who created magic with words through effortless interpretation. In the language of a common man, I was lucky enough to have sung and acted in many of his songs, who gifted the lyrics of life.”
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condoling the demise of the lyricist wrote, Bichu Thirumala is a songwriter who made film song art closer to the audience and popularized it. With his unusual word influence and musical language use, his songs stood close to the minds of the entertainer.”He also noted that many hit songs of the 80s and 90s were penned by Thirumala.
Thirumala is survived by his wife Prasanna and son Suman Bichu who is also a music composer.