Playback singer Malaysia Vasudevan dead

Chennai, Feb 20 (IANS) Playback singer Malaysia Vasudevan died here Sunday afternoon at a private hospital. He was 66.

He is survived by a son, V. Yugendran, and daughter Prashanthini, who are also playback singers.

He was admitted in the hospital a couple of days ago after a cardiac arrest.

The Malaysian-born Vasudeven came to India to find a career in Tamil movie world several decades ago.

His big break came in the movie '16 Vayathiniley' in which the song 'Aattukutti Muttaiyittu' tuned by Illayaraja was a big hit.

Vasudevan was a Kalaimamani award winner from the Tamil Nadu government.

In a career spanning over three decades, he has sung more than 8,000 songs in different languages, of which over 4,000 are in Tamil.

Some of his big hits are: 'Kodai Kaala Katre', 'Ponmaana thedi naanum poovodu', 'Aaagaya gangai', 'Oru thanga radathil' and 'Poongatru thirumbuma'.

A movie producer, Vasudevan has also acted in around 85 movies, including 'Oru Kaidhiyin Diary', 'Jallikattu', 'Mudal Vasantham' and 'Povae Unnakaga'.