Daddy's boy: His songs mirrored child in him

Muthukumar churned out 1,500 songs in 2 decades
He was a caring father, a faithful friend, an avid reader and a gifted poet. Na Muthukumar's work was a reflection of the strings that entwined his world. It was one such poignant portrayal of a father-daughter relationship in the song "Anandha Yazhai Meettugiraai" from 'Thanga Meengal' (2013) which fetched the lyricist his first national award.
The number of songs he has written from the point of view of a child probably shows that the loss of his mother at the age of four had left an everlasting impression on the young poet.His other award-winning song "Azhage Azhage" from 'Saivam' is a child singing about the beauty of nature. He penned lyrics set in a child's world in films such as 'Veyil', 'Satham Podhathe', 'Poo' and 'Pasanga 2'.
When he won his first national award, Muthukumar, in his acceptance speech, recalled his childhood dream. "Whenever I would spot an aeroplane, I would tell him that one day I would take him for a plane ride to accept my award." His dream came true when he received the award in front of his father. It was his father [his father] who introduced him to the world of books. The dynamics of this relationship inspired Muthukumar's work as a dialogue writer for 'Kireedam'. The dialogues were co-written with director A L Vijay for the fatherson sequences enacted by Ajith and Rajkiran. Although a physics graduate, Muthukumar took masters in Tamil literature. Aspiring to be a filmmaker, he worked under veteran director Balu Mahendra for four years before turning to lyric writing in the late 1990s. He went on to write an astounding 1,500 songs in a career spanning nearly two decades. A voracious reader, he could pen a song within 30 minutes.
Muthukumar's knack for infusing life lessons in commercial film songs made his lyrics stand out. He has created hit songs for films, including 'Pithamagan', 'Ghilli', Kattradhu Tamizh, Vaaranam Aayiram and Theri. He was later conferred a doctorate by the International Tamil University in the United States for his contribution to Tamil literature and films. He worked with leading music directors including Ilayaraja, A R Rahman, Harris Jeyaraj, Yuvan Shankarraja and G V Prakash.
The lyricist who has penned an average of 100 songs every year has left behind about 100 more that are yet to be released. Muthukumar is survived by his wife Deepalakshmi, 9-year-old son Adhavan and 8-month-old daughter Yogalakshmi.