V.M. Kutty, 86, the singer who donned the mantle of Sultan in Mapilapattu, died at a private hospital at Kozhikode on Wednesday. He was under treatment for cardiac issues.
V.M. Kutty stood tall among the Mapilapattu singers in the country through his bold experiments. He was instrumental in popularising the genre in Kerala.
A member of the Kerala Chalachitra Academy general council, V.M. Kutty has sung in seven Malayalam films, and won the Sangeeth Natak Akademi Award. He ruled the Mapilapattu realm for over six decades.
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He was born at Pulikkal, near Kondotty, in Malappuram in 1935, and started working as a teacher after passing Matriculation and TTC. He had displayed exceptional skill in singing, painting and acting from childhood. V.M. Kutty entered the world Mapilapattu by singing for All India Radio in Kozhikode in 1954.
His fame reached its pinnacle in the 1970s, especially in the combination with Vilayil Faseela, who was formerly Vilayil Valsala.
From 1957, he had an orchestra troupe of his own. Very few Mapilapattu singers had permanent troupes of their own in those times.
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V.M. Kutty and his troupe toured all major cities in the country and almost all countries in the Arabian Gulf.
His body was kept for the public to pay respects at Moyinkutty Vaidya Academy Hall at Kondotty. The funeral took place at his home mahal at Pulikkal in the evening.