A prolific lyricist who penned many a hit

Poovachal Khader, 72, passes away in Thiruvananthapuram

Poovachal Khader, who died in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday at the age of 72 while undergoing treatment for COVID-19, was a most prolific lyricist who penned several all-time hit songs in Malayalam cinema. In a career that spanned over five decades, he wrote over a thousand songs for more than 350 films. He was so busy in the late 1970s and 80s that he took leave from his job at the Public Works Department – he had a diploma in Engineering – to concentrate on his alternative career in cinema. Poovachal Khader, who used to write poetry from his student days and went on to pen songs for the stage and radio, caught attention right from his early days in cinema. His two songs in the 1973 film Kattu Vithachavan – Neeyente prarthana kettu… and Mazhavillinanjnathavaasam… – were hits. Then the songs of Ulsavam (Aadya samaagama lajjayil…and Swayamvarathinu) established him as a lyricist to reckon with.