Pulamaipithan – From MGR to Vijay in a 47-year career through thousands of songs, the lyricist who remains under-appreciated.

From MGR’s Kudiyiruntha Kohyil to Vijay’s Theri, Lyricist Pulamaipithan was able to capture to moods, trends and styles of the day through thousands of songs that captured people’s hearts.

He was born in Irugur in Coimbatore on 06 October 1935 as Ramasamy. He moved to Chennai in 1964 with the intention of joining the film industry and that is when he decided to use the name Pulamaipithan.

He was able to meet with M.G. Ramachandran because of his active involvement in politics, and this led to his debut as a lyricist through the song Naan Yaar Naan Yaar Nee Yaar from Kudiyiruntha Kohyil.

His career included many firsts: He penned S.P. Balasubramaniyam’s first song for MGR – Aayiram Nilave Vaa. He penned all the songs from Maniratnam’s Naayagan with the exception of Nilaa Athu Vaanathin Mele. He penned K. Bhagyaraj’s first playback song – Pachamala samy and also penned the songs for Vadivelu’s debut as a lead actor in Imsai Arasan 23am Pulikesi.

He shared a close relationship with MG Ramachandran and was influential in getting MGR to support the Tamil Eelam issue in Sri Lanka. However, when MGR began talks with Indhira Gandhi, Pulamaipithan actively pulled away.

Despite his strong political views, Pulamaipithan led a clean life – staying away from alcohol, cigarettes and other intoxicants.

His relationship with Illaiyaraja yielded some of the best loved songs of Tamil cinema.

Pulamaipithan passed away on 08 September 2021 at the age of 85.