Thoppil Anto, the veteran Malayalam singer, music composer, and theatre and stage performer, died due to age-related ailments at his residence in Edapally on Saturday. He was 81.
His funeral was held on Sunday afternoon at St George’s Church.
Having worked in the film industry for around five decades, Anto has sung thousands of songs for Malayalam movies. He was one of the popular singers in Malayalam cinema in the 1970s. Some of his renditions were for the films Father Damien (1963), Anubhavangale Nandi (1976), Sneham Oru Pravaham (1979), and Veenapoovu (1982).
Anto was born on June 6, 1940 in Edapally, Kochi to father Thoppil Kunjappu, a Chavittu Natakam artist, and mother Eliyamma. He did his primary education at St George High School.
The singer rose to fame after performing Mohammed Rafi songs at stage shows in Kerala. In the 1960s, he worked as a light music artist with the All India Radio in Thrissur before entering cinema.
His songs as a playback singer include Aadithyananayum in the film Ragging (1973), Maanodum mala in Anubhavangale Nandi (1979), and Maalaveppaan Vanniha in Veenapoovu (1983). He last sang Nammade Kochi for the 2017 film Honey Bee 2. The film’s music was composed by Deepak Dev.
Anto was also a composer who worked on several Hindu and Christian devotional songs for various albums. He also composed songs for the 1989 film Kalaapam.
He worked as a singer for the theatre as well and was associated with NN Pillai’s Nadaka theatre, Vishwa Keralakalasammithi in Kottayam, People’s Theater in Kayamkulam and Cochin Samgamithra. He sang for more than 1000 dramas. He later established a music band called Cochin Bandor Orchestra and performed in many stages across the world.
Anto was a recipient of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Academy award for light music in 1982. He was also awarded the Pravasi Pranava Shwani Puraskar in 2010 and the Changampuzha Samskari Kendram award.
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Several artists from the Malayalam film industry, including singer KS Chithra, filmmaker Vinayan TG and producer Nadhirshah, took to social media to mourn the demise of the late singer.