CHENNAI: Noted music director S Balakrishnan passed away at 11 am on Thursday at his house in Chennai . He was 69 years old. He was undergoing cancer treatment for one year. Cremation tooj place in electric mortuary in Basant Nagar at 4:30 pm on Thursday.

He has composed music for super hit films like In Harihar Nagar, Godfather, Ramji Rao Speaking, Kilukkampetty, Vietnam Colony and Mazhavil koodaram. He is survived by his wife Vijayalakshmi, children Sreenivasan and Vimal Shankar.

A native of Palakkad Chittilanchery native, Balakrishnan migrated to Chennai, dreaming to become a music director.

He had won the award for the best student’s award for Western Guitar from London Trinity college.

He started his musical career as the assistant of Guna Singh and Rajan Nagendra. He has played Western Guitar under Iayaraaja’s baton. He also served as a teacher in A R Rahman Music college in Chennai. He debuted as music director in a Siddique Lal film after being referred by Fasil to Siddique Lal.