Chennai, Aug 15 (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.
He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.
Muthukumar was later cremated at Velangadu here in the presence of many famous cinema personalities.
Tamil actors Vijay, Jayam Ravi, Krishna Kulasekaran, Sasikumar, Nassar and Pasupathy as well as filmmakers Bhagyaraj, Atlee, Perarasu, Vetrimaaran and Vasanth paid tributes to the lyricist.
When he began his career, Muthukumar wanted to be a director. It was with the 2000 release Tamil film "Veera Nadai" that he 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".
Kamal Haasan, Siddharth and composer Yuvan Shankar Raja also expressed grief.
"If he lived a little (more), he'd have made the above intro redundant," Haasan tweeted.
"Miss you my friend. Thanks for the words you left behind in print. Hope you enjoyed life half as much as we are going to enjoy your poems,” he added.
Yuvan, who collaborated with Muthukumar on several occasions, said he will miss Muthukumar. He also shared a picture.
Actor Siddharth said: "I cannot believe Muthukumar is no more. Too young to die. What a loss! Sad, sad day."
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”.