Noted lyricist Vaali dies at 82

Chennai: Veteran Tamil film lyricist Vaali died at a private hospital here today. He was 82.

Vaali was undergoing treatment at a private hospital for respiratory problems for a month and was on ventilator support. Born as T S Rangarajan in the temple town of Srirangam, Vaali penned lyrics for stars across generations, from the veteran M G Ramachandran (MGR), Kamal Haasan to present day heroes like Dhanush. He worked with star composers of Tamil cinema like M S Viswanthan and AR Rahman. Having started in the mid-60s, Vaali went on to pen nearly 10,000 songs in his five-decade-long career. Vaali also acted in a few movies including veteran K Balachander-directed `Poikal Kuthirai` and Kamal Haasan`s `Hey Ram`. He wrote two songs in Bharat Bala directed film `Mariyan`, starring Dhanush, which is scheduled for release tomorrow. PTI