Johnson
Background information
Also known as	Johnson Master
Born	T. A. Johnson (1953-03-26)26 March 1953 Trichur,Travancore-Cochin, India
Died	18 August 2011(2011-08-18) (aged 58) Chennai,Tamil Nadu, India
Genres	Film score world music
Occupations	Composer music director instrumentalist singer
Instruments	Harmonium guitar flute drums violin accordion
Years active	1978–2011

Thattil Antony Johnson (26 March 1953 – 18 August 2011), popularly known asJohnson Master, was an Indianfilm score composer and music director. Regarded as one of the finest composers in the industry,^[1] he was noted for his lyrical and expressive melodies together with simple but rich tonal compositions of thematic music. Johnson is a recipient ofNational Film Awards twice andKerala State Film Awards five times.^[2][3][4] He has composed music for more than 300 Malayalam films, the most by any composer except forG. Devarajan.^[5] He was the first music director fromMalayalam cinema to be honoured with the National film Awards.He composed music for some of the most important motion pictures of Malayalam cinema, includingKoodevide,Namukku Paarkkan Munthiri Thoppukal,Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam,Vadakkunokkiyantram,Perumthachan,Njan Gandharvan,Ponthan Mada, andBhoothakkannadi.

Johnson was born in Nellikkunnu nearTrichur (Thrissur) in the state ofTravancore-Cochin (now part ofKerala), on 26 March 1953.^[6] His father, the late Thattil Antony, was a bank employee. His secondary education was at St. Thomas School in Thope, Trichur. Johnson was a singer in the choir of Nellikkunnu St. Sebastian's Church. He used to sing in youth festivals and musical shows and joined the orchestra team of some local troupes and played harmonium in many concerts. He also used to sing in female voice inganamelas (a stage show where film songs are sung by amateur or professional artists).^[7]

Within a few years, the club became one of the most sought after musical troupes in Kerala, and had more than fifty members. This club used to give accompaniment music to playback singersJayachandran andMadhuri in their musical shows. It was Jayachandran who introduced Johnson toG. Devarajan, one of the most prolific composers of South Indian cinema then. Devarajan literally adopted Johnson and brought him toChennai in 1974. Johnson bought anaccordion, during this period, fromR. K. Shekhar (A. R. Rahman's father), and began assisting Devarajan in filmscoring and composing.^[7]

Johnson began his independent career by composing the film scores ofBharathan'sAaravam (1978),Thakara (1980) andChamaram (1980). He composed his first soundtracks for the filmInaye Thedi, debut film of director turned still photographer Antony Eastman and actressSilk Smitha. It was Devarajan himself, who suggested Johnson try his hand at direction. Then cameBharathan'sParvathi andBalachandra Menon'sPremageethangal.Premageethangal was a notable success with four of its songs – "Swapnam Verumoru Swapnam", "Nee Nirayoo Jeevanil", "Muthum Mudipponnum" and "Kalakalamozhi" attaining cult status.

He came to prominence through his collaboration with Malayalam author and directorPadmarajan.Koodevide was their first venture, which had one of the most famous songs of Johnson "Aadivaa Kaatte", a pathbreaking song in Malayalam music history. It was one of the first songs in Malayalam to so many western classical elements. The song was born out of Padmarajan's need for a western song for his innovative film. Song composition took place in Woodland's Hotel,Chennai. Another notable feature of this song was the lyrics byO. N. V. Kurup, who for the first time wrote lyrics for a pre-composed song.^[7] Johnson worked for 11 films with Padmarajan, including his last filmNjan Gandharvan. This productive collaboration saw the detailed screenplay and cinematography of Padmarajan become a fertile ground for expressive musical narration and thematic scores for Johnson. This is seen in some of the greatest motion pictures of Malayalam cinema, likeNombarathipoovu (1987). Another notable collaboration of Johnson was with directorSathyan Anthikkad, with whom he associated in almost 25 films. He was able to provide some of his most popular songs with Anthikkad and this combo is widely accepted to be one of the greatest director-composer collaborations in Malayalam cinema. Acclaimed Malayalam directorBharathan also collaborated with him in multiple films includingParvathy, Palangal,Ormakkayi, Kattathe Kilikkoodu, Ente Upasana,Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam, Ozhivukalam,Malootty,Chamayam andChuram. His major other collaborations with directors include Mohan (Oru Katha Oru Nunakkatha, Sakshyam,Pakshe andAngane Oru Avadhikkalathu),Sibi Malayil (Kireedam,Chenkol, Dasaratham andNee Varuvolam),Sreenivasan (Vadakkunokkiyantram andChinthavishtayaya Shyamala),Lohithadas (Bhoothakkannadi,Kamal (Peruvannapurathe Visheshangal,Shubhayathra,Ee Puzhayum Kadannu andPaavam Paavam Rajakumaran), andBalachandra Menon (Shesham Kazhchayil, Premageethangal, Kilukilukkam,Kelkatha Shabdam andNayam Vyakthamakkunnu).

He is also noted for his collaboration with the Malayalam lyricistKaithapram Damodaran Namboothiri. Their association began in 1989 withSathyan Anthikkad's social satireVaravelpu. Most of Johnson's notable works were in the late eighties and early nineties. In 1991, he scored a record number of 31 films, including 29 with Kaithapram.^[7] Johnson won National awards for two consecutive years. He won his first National Award for best music direction for the motion picturePonthan Mada (1993). The next year he got his second National award forSukrutham for the background score.

After an extremely successful career of more than a decade, Johnson took a sabbatical from film scoring by the end of the nineties. The quantity of his works began perishing during this time. By the beginning of the 2000s, he didn't sign any new projects that even his most noted collaborator Sathyan Anthikkad had to find a new composer. In 2003 he did the background score for the NFDC movieParinamam (The Change) directed byP. Venu.In 2004, he sang the song "Theekuruvi" fromKangalal Kaidhu Sei, which was composed byA. R. Rahman. Perhaps it is the only song recorded by him for any composer other than himself. He returned strongly to the field withPhotographer in 2006, which fetched him numerous awards.^[8]

Johnson has released four non-film albums. His first albumSneha Deepika was released in 1989 on Tharangini audios. It had nine Christian devotional songs – "Aathma Swaroopa", "Unni Yesu Pirannu", "Manninum Poovinum", "Thumbapoo Polulla", "Bhoomikku Pulakam", "Manassakumengil", "Kulir Choodum", "Arthungal Innoru" and "Vidarnna Punchiri". The featured artists wereK. J. Yesudas,K. S. Chithra andSujatha.^[9] His second albumOnathappan, a collaboration withM. G. Radhakrishnan andBerny-Ignatius, consisted of nine festival songs. The track "Mundon Paadam" was composed by Johnson, sung byM. G. Sreekumar and had lyrics penned byBichu Thirumala.^[10] His third albumNannipoorvam Johnson, consisted of twelve tracks – "Chandanakkavilinnu", "Panineeru Peyyum", "Vasundhare", "Virunnu Vanna", "Prapanjam Sundaram", "Enthe Nee Varathe", "Nilasandhyayil", "Veruthe Onnu", "Ponnazhikkuttu", "Pranayappirave", "Kalindhi", and an introductory speech bySreenivasan. The lyricists wereR. K. Damodaran,Gireesh Puthenchery,Kaithapram,Bichu Thirumala,M. D. Rajendran,K. Jayakumar,S. Ramesan Nair andPoovachal Khader and the songs were rendered byK. J. Yesudas,P. Jayachandran,K. S. Chithra,M. G. Sreekumar, Aparna Rajeev,Dr. Rashmi Madhu and Johnson himself. In 2009, he released his second Christian devotional album entitledParishudhan. It had eleven tracks – "Vazhiyum Sathyavum Nee Thanne (Vijay Yesudas), "Mullukal Kuthi" (Chithra), "Ariyathe Polum" (G. Venugopal), "Neethimanayavane" (Sujatha), "Traditional song" (Louis), "Mazhayum Veyilum" (Rimi Tomy), "Oru Viral Sparshathal (Sudheep), "Loka Palaka" (Chithra), Neethanthamam (Vijay Yesudas), and "Kannukalil Theliyum" (Manjari).

His skilful integration of textual rhythm of the lyrics together with rich tonal arrangement, redefined songwriting in Malayalam cinema, since the late 1980s. In his film scores, Johnson combines native South Indian melodic patterns with the harmonic structure of classical music and this has attained an expressive form of narration through film score.^[11] He composed for about 300 films, making him the second most composed music director in Malayalam, after his guruG. Devarajan. Though he has obtained no formal training in classical music, he was able to incorporate the beauty ofCarnatic ragas in his songs. Most of his songs were composed onKalyani raga.

Johnson's favourite male singer wasK. J. Yesudas, who has recorded many songs for him, whileS. Janaki andK. S. Chithra were his favourite female singers. Chithra had some of her most noted songs with Johnson.^[12]

Johnson is fondly called Johnson Master (Johnson Mashu) by Malayalee audiences. Even his contemporaries and competitors refer him with the tag 'Master' ('mash' in Malayalam).

His background scoring style has a cult following. His scores fromThoovanathumbikal,Namukku Parkkan Munthirithoppukal,Manichitrathazhu,Thaniyavarthanam,Chitram,Bharatham,Aparan,Kireedam,Sukrutham are considered to be amongst the best.

Johnson won his firstNational Film Award for the Best Music Direction for the filmPonthan Mada (1994) and the very next year he won his secondNational film award for the Best Background score for the filmSukrutham (1995)^[13] He was the first Malayalee music composer to receive a National award in music category and is also the only Malayalee music director who received two national awards in music category. This film has one songAdimarunge ayyayya (അടിമരുങ്ങേ അയ്യയ്യാ) lyrics byO. N. V. Kurup and sung byK. S. Chithra and chorus composed by Johnson. This is a folk song. National film award committee noted that he brilliantly integrated western folk tunes into this song.^{[citation needed]} The award was given for best music direction and background score of this film. He has received threeKerala State Film Award for Best Music Director, for the filmsOrmakkayi (1982),Vadakkunokkiyantram andMazhavil Kavadi (1989), andAngane Oru Avadhikkalathu (1999). He was awarded theKerala State Film Award for Best Background Music for the filmsSadayam (1992) andSallapam (1996). He has thus received five Kerala State Film Awards in music category, an achievement he shares with Devarajan. He has received the Kerala Film Critics Awards four times, the most recent in 2008 forGulmohar. In 2007, he won the Mathruboomi Award for Best Music Director forPhotographer (2006).^[14] He won the Mullasserry Raju Music Award for the song "Enthe Kannanu Karuppu Niram", also from the same film. In addition, he has received numerous other awards and nominations including Devarajan Master Memorial Award and Raveendran Master Memorial Award.^[15]

Johnson died at his home inChennai on 18 August 2011 at the age of 58, due to a massive heart attack.^[16] He was survived by his wife Rani Johnson, son Renn Johnson and daughter Shan Johnson. Renn Johnson died on 25 February 2012 in a motorbike accident in Chennai.^[17] Shan Johnson, a trained singer and musician, died of a cardiac arrest at her flat in Chennai on 5 February 2016. They are interred at the St Sebastian's church cemetery in Nellikunnu, Thrissur.^[18][19]

The following lists out the films in which Johnson composed the background score but not songs.

In an interview withMalayala Manorama, Johnson listed the following 13 songs as his favourite songs.^[7]

• "Aadivaa Katte" (Koodevide)
• "Nee Nirayoo Jeevanil" (Premageethangal)
• "Swapnam Verumoru Swapnam" (Premageethangal)
• "Poo Venam" (Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam)
• "Melle Melle Mukhapadam" (Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam)
• "Gopike Nin Viral" (Kattathe Kilikkoodu)
• "Devankanangal" (Njan Gandharvan)
• "Swarna mukile" (Ithu Njangaludey Kadha)
• "Thankathoni" (Mazhavilkavadi)
• "Sundari Poovinu Naanam" (Ente Upasana)
• "Shyamambharam" (Artham)
• "Enthe Kannanu Karuppu Niram" (Photographer)
• "Oru Naal" (Gulmohar)

21.^https://youtube.com/VVc3qiSW0gc?si=pq-uxaTwd-kSNKBd Medley of Jhonson Master's Background scores by www.m3db.com (Malayalam Movie & Music Database)

• Johnson atIMDb
• Johnson at the Malayalam Movie Database
• A list of 700 songs by Johnson
• Johnson Master Passed away
• 'കുന്നിമണിച്ചെപ്പ് തുറന്ന് – രവി മേനോന്‍' in Mathrubhumi Online
• 'ആരോടും മിണ്ടാതെ' in Mathrubhumi Online
• 'ഓര്‍മ്മയ്ക്കായ്' in Manorama Online
• Malayalam film industry never recognized Johnson's worth: G. Venugopal

• Musicians from Thrissur
• Malayalam film score composers
• Best Music Direction National Film Award winners
• Best Background Score National Film Award winners
• 20th-century Indian composers
• 21st-century Indian composers
• Film musicians from Kerala
• 1953 births
• 2011 deaths

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