Nostalgic Nuggets: He was the first to receive a National Award for Best Lyrics

For a man who just lived till the age of 54, his output was nothing short of prolific. Kannadasan, known as 'Kaviarasu' (King of poets) (1924-1981) is heralded for being one of the most important lyricists in India. During his career, he wrote lyrics for 5000 songs, wrote 230- odd books and 6000 poems. He also performed as a producer, actor, philanthropist, editor during his three-decade career.

It was in 1969, he was awarded as the Best Lyricist for the film 'Kuzhanthaikkaga' produced by D Ramanaidu and remade in Telugu as 'Papa Kosam'. This crime-drama film was also remade in Hindi and Malayalam and was successful. Undoubtedly, it was one of the highpoints of southern cinema as the Tamil film was not only commercially successful but noticed for its unique story idea and presentation.

Kannadasan died in the USA on October 17,1981 when he was there to attend a World Tamil Conference at Chicago. His last song was used in the Kamal Haasan – Sridevi hit ' MoondramPirai' in 1983, a great hit again in Telugu ( Vasantha Kokila) and lately a cult classic in Hindi, released as ' Sadma'. It's Kannadasan's 96th birth anniversary today.