Lyricist Lalith Anand, who worked in the Tamil film industry, died at a private hospital in Chennai, on Sunday, after a long illness. He was 47.
The late lyricist made his debut in Tamil cinema with the 2009 romantic drama Adhe Neram Adhe Idam. All five songs in the film were written by Lalith.
However, he soon became known for his collaborations with director Gokul. Lalith wrote at least one song in each Gokul’s films, sometimes contributing lyrics for the entire album. They first teamed up for the director’s debut, Rowthiram (2011), which had two songs penned by the lyricist.
Later, for Gokul’s 2013 film, Idharkuthane Aasaipattai Balakumara, Lalith wrote the hit song En Veetula, featuring Vijay Sethupathi and Nandita Swetha. Subsequently, Lalith penned all the songs for Gokul’s Junga (2018) and Anbirkiniyal (2021), and two songs in Kashmora (2016).
Speaking to Silverscreen India, Gokul states that his partnership with the lyricist continued in his upcoming film, Corona Kumar, featuring Silambarasan. Lalith has written the song CSK Singangala in the film.
The filmmaker tells us that the late lyricist had been suffering from kidney issues for the last two years and was undergoing dialysis for the same. “He was admitted to VHS Hospital in Chennai about 15 days ago, where an endoscopy was performed. He later suffered a stroke and became brain dead. He was put on ventilator support, but on Sunday evening, he died of cardiac arrest,” Gokul adds.
“I feel as if I’ve lost myself. He was not just a lyricist, he has traveled along with me for a long time. He was present even during the initial stages of the script work for my films,” he says.
The filmmaker reminisces about how he got in touch with Lalith during the making of Rowthiram. “I was looking for a lyricist and happened to come across his work in other films. We soon got together and eventually, I gave him most of my songs to write. He has worked on about 85-90% of the songs in my films. He was always the greatest lyricist for me, despite the many distinguished others in the industry.”
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Calling En Veetula a big hit, Gokul says that Lalith’s lyrics captured his viewpoint perfectly. “I used to call him my conscience. And despite both of us being almost the same age, he used to address me with respect. His lyrics have deep meanings but are still accessible to everyone. He deserves more acclaim and we were hoping that it would be fulfilled with the songs from Corona Kumar. Sadly, he left us too soon.”
Several other film personalities, including actors Vijay Sethupathi and Kayal Devaraj, as well as lyricists Vivek and Arun Bharathi, expressed their condolences via social media.
The late lyricist is survived by his wife, son, and daughter.