TM Soundararajan 1922-2013

There were two aspects in T M Soundararajan's life that were sacrosanct - the 'vibhuthi' on his forehead and his voice. The veteran Tamil playback singer never stepped out without 'vibhuthi' or sacred ash and a dot of 'kumkumum' on his forehead because he beieved they kept god with him all through the day.

He never began a song until he found out who the hero of he movie was because he beieved it was the key to his success.

And it paid off. Soundararajan's career spanned four decades and he sang for Tamil cinema icons such as M G Ramachandran and Sivaji Ganesan right through to Rajinikanth.

As for god, he was with him all through his 91 years, says his grandson Senduran B, and gave him a happy life to the very end. "He even attended my wedding three days ago," says Senduran.

On Saturday, at 3.40 pm, Soundararajan breathed his last, after a little more than a week in hospital. He was admitted to Isabel Hospital two weeks ago after a fall and then suffered liver failure. He was brought back to his house in Mandaveli a week ago. By evening, as news of his death spread, crowds of fans - devotees as they called themselves - and musicians, singers and composers from the industry gathered at his residence to pay respects. His contemporaries lyricist Vaali, composer M S Vishwanathan and singer P Suseela were among the first to reach the house. TN chief minister J Jayalalithaa and DMK chief Karunanidhi conveyed their condolences. "He may no longer be with us, but his voice will always be. You hear it at temples because of the sheer volume of his devotional songs," said music director Shankar Ganesh, who worked with Soundararajan in many movies, and who was present at the house on Saturday.

Soundararajan, who made his debut with the song Radhe Ennai Vittu Pogadhe in the Sivaji Ganesan-starrer Krishna Vijayam in 1948, had more than 10,000 film songs to his credit and more than 5000 devotional songs.

"What made him unique was the fact that he molded his voice to suit the hero he was singing for," says Ganesh.

It was this ability that got him his first break. His son T M S Selvakumar says that when Soundararajan, who was originally from Sourashtra, approached music director SM Subbiah Naidu for a chance, he was asked to sing Radhe Ennai Vittu Pogadhe, originally sung by MK Thyagaraja Bhagavathar . "He sang it exactly like MKT had and that impressed Subbiah Sir, who gave him his break. From then on, he was the voice for almost every hero," says Selvakumar.

In 2003, Soundararajan was awarded the Padmashri. He had last sung in the theme song of the World Classical Tamil Conference in 2010, composed by AR Rahman.

He is survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter. The cremation will be helt at 4.30 pm on Sunday in Mylapore.