Kaithapram Viswanathan Namboothiri, the popular music composer in Malayalam, has passed away at the age of 58 due to Cancer. Reportedly, he was battling cancer for a very long time and took to his last breath in a private hospital on Wednesday.

The award-winning composer, who carved out his own space among the top-rated composers in the tinsel world through a limited number of movies, was the younger brother of renowned lyricist-musician Kaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri.

He handled the orchestra for his brother's songs in Jayaraj's Desadanam. Later, he made his debut with Kaliyattam, directed by Jayaraj. He has composed music for about 23 films, many of which were directed by Jayaraj including Kannaki and Thilakkam. His scores had been rendered by K.J. Yesudas, P. Jayachandran, K.S. Chithra and G. Venugopal.

Viswanathan composed music for over 20 movies including Kannaki, Thilakkam and Daivanamathil. The background scores for Kannaki won him the Kerala state film award in 2001. He was survived by his wife Gauri and three children. He has also bagged the prestigious 2001 Kerala State Film Award for the best background score for the film ‘Kannaki’.