Vairamuthu Ramasamy

Born: 13 July 1953

He 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.
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.