Carnatic musician Vaikom Vasudevan G Namboothiri died at 86

On Tuesday, renowned Carnatic musician Vaikom Vasudevan G Namboothiri passed away (July 19). He was 86 years old. In Vaikom, Kerala, close to his home Pulinchuvadu Tharamel Madathil, cremation took place today at 2:00 pm. Vaikom Vasudevan G Namboothiri is survived by his wife Leela Antharjanan, as well as his two Vaikom Jayachandran and Vaikom Devanand. Both the children are well-known playback singers.

The well-known vocalist KJ Yesudas attended RLV College of Music & Fine Arts in Tripunithura with Vaikom Vasudevan G Namboothiri. Vaikom Vasudevan played a key role in a number of Karnataka music theatre productions and taught for a while. He was a classmate of KJ Yesudas at Tripunithura RLV College.

Vaikom Vasudevan G Namboothiri is a well-known Carnatic musician who has also appeared in two movies as an actor. In the 1983 bilingual dance film “Ananda Bhairavi,” which was directed by Jandhyala and had a screenplay by Kondamudi Sri Ramachandra Murthy, he had a significant part. The movie featured the tale of a dance instructor who encounters difficulties after speaking out against a culture that forbids girls from participating in the traditional dance-drama art form known as “Kuchipudi.”

In the 2018 release of the action drama Malayalam movie “Oru Kuprasidha Payyan,” Vaikom Vasudevan G Namboothiri also had a little part. The actors Tovino Thomas, Nimisha Sajayan, Anu Sithara, Saranya Ponvannan, Alencier Ley Lopez, and Sujith Shankar had pivotal roles in the Madupal-directed movie. The movie, which was based on the Sundari Amma murder case, was well-liked by the public and did well at the box office.