Kamakodiyan

Kamakodiyan, born Srinivasan, was a native of Madurai. He later left for Madras (now Chennai) and stayed with his cousin K. S. Madhangan, then an aspiring film director. At that time, Srinivasan wrote poems for magazines, catching Madhangan's attention. He gave him the pen name Kamakodiyan, derived from the saint Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham. Madhangan eventually made his directorial debut with Ponnagaram (1980), and Kamakodiyan debuted in the same film with the music composed by Shankar–Ganesh. He went on to write lyrics for numerous films with music by M. S. Viswanathan, Ilaiyaraaja and Chandrabose.^[3] He wrote a book called Mellisai Mannar MSV um Naanum.^[4] He was awarded Kalaimamani in 2019.^[5]

Kamakodiyan would write lyrics as the tune was being composed, and would work in tandem with the composer. He lamented changes in the 21st century, where lyricists receive the complete recorded tune via cassette and are asked to write lyrics, but do not work closely with the composer.^[6]

Kamakodiyan died on 6 January 2022.^[7]