Vairamuthu

During the stint of his under-graduation at Pachaiyappa’s College in Chennai, he was acclaimed as a speaker and poet. In his sophomore year, he published his first anthology of poems, titled Vaigarai Megangal ('Clouds at Dawn'), at the age of nineteen. The book was prescribed as part of the curriculum in the Women's Christian College, giving Vairamuthu the distinction of being a writer whose work was part of a syllabus, while he was still a student. He completed a 2 year Master's program in Arts in the field of Tamil literature at the Madras University.

As a part of the #MeToo movement, Vairamuthu was accused of sexual harassment in 2018 by singer Chinmayi Sripada. Journalist Sandhya Menon also came forward with sexual harassment allegations against Vairamuthu, followed by multiple other women. Vairamuthu denied all allegations. Following the allegations, Vairamuthu was removed from the crew of Mani Ratnam's Ponniyin Selvan film.

During this time, he also collaborated with composer Chandrabose on the films Shankar Guru, Makkal En Pakkam, Manithan, Katha Nayagan, Thaimel Aanai, Paatti Sollai Thattathe, Vasanthi, Raja Chinna Roja and Sugamana Sumaigal. They last worked together on Aadhikkam, which was released in 2005.

Vairamuthu is also known for his work in the 90s and early 2000s with composer Deva, on popular soundtracks such as Annamalai, Baasha, Aasai, Once More, Arunachalam, Nerukku Ner, Vaali, Kushi, and Panchathanthiram. He has also worked extensively with Harris Jayaraj, D. Imman, Vidyasagar, Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy (on both their Tamil projects, Aalavandhan and Vishwaroopam), N. R. Raghunanthan (which secured him his sixth National Award for the film Thenmerku Paruvakaatru) and Yuvan Shankar Raja (the son of Ilaiyaraaja; their association yielded him his seventh National Award for the film Dharma Durai). During his nearly 40-year career, he has worked with over 150 music directors.

Following Roja, the combination of A.R. Rahman and Vairamuthu became heavily sought after, collaborating on several films throughout the next 25 years. Their continued association with director Mani Ratnam (which spans the length of Rahman's career), led to critical and commercial success on films such as Thiruda Thiruda (1993), Bombay (1995), Alaipayuthey (2000), Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), Aayutha Ezhuthu (2004), Raavanan (2010), Kadal (2013), O Kadhal Kanmani (2015). Kaatru Veliyidai (2017) and Chekka Chivantha Vaanam (2018). Four out of Vairamuthu's seven National awards for the Best Lyricist came out of his association with Rahman (on films such as Roja, Karuththamma, Pavithra; he was recognized by the National awards committee for his efforts on both these films in 1995, Sangamam and Kannathil Muthamittal) and four out of Rahman's six National Awards came from his association with Vairamuthu (on the films Roja, Minsara Kanavu, Kannathil Muthamittal and Kaatru Veliyidai). Singers P. Unnikrishnan, S.P. Balasubrahmanyam, Shankar Mahadevan, Swarnalatha, K.S. Chitra and Shashaa Tirupati have all won National awards for their work in collaboration with this duo.

In 1991, K. Balachander signed Vairamuthu as a lyricist for three of his productions, which were set for release in the following year: Vaaname Ellai, Annamalai and Roja. The first film (directed by Balachander himself) was composed by M.M. Keeravani (credited as 'Maragadhamani' in Tamil), the second (directed by Suresh Krissna) had music scored by Deva, and the third (directed by Mani Ratnam) by a debuting composer named A.R. Rahman.

Vairamuthu has written 37 books which include collections of poetry as well as novels in the Tamil language. Several of them have been translated into English, Hindi, Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Russian and Norwegian. He introduced the work of foreign poets to Tamil readers in his Ella Nadhiyilum En Odam. Over 2.6 million copies of his works have been sold. In 1991, four of his books were released on the same day in a grand manner in Madurai by the ex-Chief Minister Karunanidhi.

In 1986, he debuted as screenwriter for the film Natpu, directed by Ameerjan. He later had three further collaborations as a writer with the director in Thulasi (1987), Vanna Kanavugal (1987) and Vanakkam Vathiyare (1991). He also penned the dialogues for Andru Peytha Mazhaiyil (1989), which was directed by the National award-winning cinematographer Ashok Kumar.

After K. Balachander's Punnagai Mannan (1986), Vairamuthu and Ilaiyaraaja parted ways. After their split, Vairamuthu's career stalled for the next five years, when he worked largely on lyrics for other language films that were dubbed in Tamil. His association with director Bharathiraja remained intact, as the duo worked together in the late 1980s on films such as Vedham Pudhithu (composed by Devendran) and Kodi Parakuthu (composed by Hamsalekha). He also worked with Bollywood composers such as R. D. Burman in the film Ulagam Pirandhadhu Enakkaga and the duo Laxmikant–Pyarelal on Uyire Unakkaga.

After Nizhalgal, Vairamuthu and Ilaiyaraaja kicked off a successful collaboration which would last a little more than half a decade. Their joint association with director Bharathiraja, led to some of the most critically acclaimed soundtracks such as Alaigal Oivathillai (which won Vairamuthu his first Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Lyricist), Kaadhal Oviyam, Mann Vasanai, Pudhumai Penn, Oru Kaidhiyin Diary, Muthal Mariyathai (which won Vairamuthu his first National Award for Best Lyricist) and Kadalora Kavithaigal. During the period he was working with Ilaiyaraaja, Vairamuthu collaborated with director Mani Ratnam for the first time in Idhaya Kovil in 1985, penning the song "Naan Padum Mouna Ragam" (which inspired the title of Ratnam's breakthrough Mouna Ragam, which was released in the following year).

Upon reading his poems, he was signed on as a lyricist by the director P. Bharathiraja for the film Nizhalgal in the year 1980. The first song he wrote in his career, was "Pon Maalai Pozhuthu", which was composed by "Isaignani" Ilaiyaraaja and sung by S.P. Balasubrahmanyam. The first song of his that was released, was "Batrakali Uttamaseeli" (also composed by Ilaiyaraaja) from the film Kaali, which was released four months before Nizhalgal. Vairamuthu quit his career as a translator to work full-time in the film industry.

After his education, he began his professional career at the Tamil Nadu Official Language Commission in the mid-1970s, as a translator of law books and documents from English to Tamil, working under Justice Maharajan. In addition to this, he continued writing poetry, bringing out a second anthology of poems in 1979, titled Thiruthi Ezhuthiya Theerpugal ('Revised and rewritten').

From a very young age, Vairamuthu was drawn towards the language and literature of Tamil. The Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu during the 1960s, made a significant impression on his youth and he was inspired by several prominent individuals associated with language, such as Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, 'Perarignar' Annadurai, Kalaignar Mu. Karunanidhi, Subramania Bharathi, Bharathidasan and Kannadasan. He began writing poems from the age of ten and by his early teens, he was noted as a prominent orator and poet in his school. At the age of fourteen, he wrote a group of venba poems, having been inspired by Thiruvalluvar’s Tirukkuṛaḷ.

Vairamuthu Ramasamy (born 13 July 1953) is an Indian poet, lyricist and novelist working in the Tamil film industry. He is a prominent figure in the Tamil literary world. A master's graduate from the Pachaiyappa's College in Chennai, he first worked as a translator, while also being a published poet. He entered the Tamil film industry in the year 1980, with the film Nizhalgal, an Ilaiyaraaja musical, directed by P. Bharathiraja. During the course of his 40-year film career, he has written over 7,500 songs and poems which have won him seven National Awards, the most for any Indian lyricist. He has also been honored with a Padma Shri, a Padma Bhushan and a Sahitya Akademi Award, for his abundant literary output.

Vairamuthu was born on July 13, 1953 to Ramasamy and his wife Angammal, who were agriculturalists based in the village of Mettoor, in the district of Theni, Tamil Nadu. In 1957, his family was forced to move to Vadugapatti, another village in the Theni district, due to the construction of Vaigai Dam across the river Vaigai, which led to evacuation of 14 villages (including Mettur). In his new surroundings, he also took up agriculture in addition to his academics.

Kallikkattu Ithikasam depicts the story of the people of a village who have turned refugees in independent India. In the 1950s, when Vaigai dam was constructed in Madurai District, 14 villages were vacated for creating the water catchment area. This novel narrates the tearful story of those refugees who lost their land under the water. The author is a child born to one such family and had lived through the misery of this migration in his childhood. The story portrays the tears, blood and pain of the villagers whose families were crushed as a result of modernization. The soul of the novel echoes the truth behind the values of agrarian India and the virtues of farmers which are eternal. This saga won Vairamuthu the Sahitya Akademi Award for the Best Literary Work in the year 2003, and has been translated into 22 languages.