M. B. Sreenivasan

Manamadurai Balakrishnan Sreenivasan (19 September 1925 – 9 March 1988), or MBS, as he was called, was a South Indian music director who worked mainly in the Malayalam and Tamil film industries.

M. B. Sreenivasan
Born	Manamadurai Balakrishnan Srinivasan 19 September 1925 Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh
Died	9 March 1988(1988-03-09) (aged 62) Lakshadweep Islands
Occupation	music director
Spouse(s)	Zahida Kitchlew

He was born to an orthodox Tamil Brahmin family on 19 September 1925 in Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh. He had his schooling at P.S. High School, Chennai. During his college days at Madras Presidency College, he was attracted to communist ideals and joined the Madras Students Organisation. His acquaintance with Nemai Ghosh, a Bengali director, paved his entry into films. His first film song was written to the words of noted Tamil lyricist, Jayakanthan, for the Tamil film Paadhai Theriyudhu Paar. He played a major part in the formation of Indian Peoples Theatre Association (IPTA).

He formed the Madras Youth Choir in 1971, which sings Indian choral music, based at Chennai. You can contact the choir at www.madrasyouthchoir.org. MYC sings choral compositions of MBS. They have released a twin cd Pallupaduvome by Charsur and propose to release a children's CD Poo Vaenuma that was composed by MBS. He had also acted in a Tamil movie, Agraharathil Kazhutai.

He was married to Zahida Kitchlew, a Kashmiri Muslim, who was the daughter of the freedom fighter Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlew. They had a son named Kabir. None of them are still alive.

M. B. Sreenivasan died suddenly of a heart attack while conducting a choir in the Lakshadweep islands on 9 March 1988. His body was later taken to his homeland, and was cremated there. Zahida, his wife, outlived him for 14 years, dying on 23 October 2002. Kabir died on 4 April 2009.