Chennai, Aug 14 (IANS): National Award winning lyricist Na Muthukumar died here on Sunday due to jaundice, a source said. He was 41.

“He passed away at his residence. He was suffering from high fever and succumbed to jaundice,” the source close told IANS.

When he began his career, he wanted to be a director. It was with the 2000 release Tamil film “Veera Nadai” that Muthukumar started his journey as a lyricist.

In a career lasting over a decade, he wrote around 1,000 songs. He holds a special record for penning 103 songs in 2012.

Most popular for his collaboration with composers Yuvan Shankar Raja and G.V Prakash, he reportedly wrote over 200 songs in the latter's composition.

“Can't believe this. Na Muthukumar is no more... He's written more than 200 songs in my films. A huge loss. May god give strength to his family,” Prakash tweeted.

Prakash added that his musical career started with Muthukumar's song “Veyilodu Vilayadi” from the National Award winning Tamil film “Veyyil”.

Two of his songs “Aanandha Yazhai Meetugiraai” (from “Thanga Meengal”) and “Azhage Azhage” (from “Saivam”) fetched him National Awards.

Some of his other popular songs include “Suttum Vizhi”, “Devathaiyai Kandaen”, “Mun Andhi” and “Venillave”.