Cinemaazi remembers M S Viswanathan on his birth anniversary

Popularly known as Mellisai Mannar, M S Viswanathan used to sell refreshments in a film theatre for the opportunity of listening to the music. He got hired as an errand boy in S M Venkatraman's musical troupe in 1942. He later worked with and learnt from S M Subbaiah Naidu and C R Subburaman. It is at Subburaman's troupe that he met T K Ramamoorthy with whom he will form one of the most successful composer duos of Tamil cinema. After over a 100 films together, they went their separate ways. Over a career laden with laurels, he worked across Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu films. He was also an occasional singer and actor. Winner of a National Award, Nandi Award, Tamil Nadu State Film Award and Kerala State Film Awards, he was also known for his selfless nature, helping many of his fellow artistes in their time of need. He was born this day, 24 June, 1928 in Elappully.