Pa. Vijay, one of the top lyricists of Kollywood film industry is a native of Kumbakonam but he grew up in Coimbatore.

Since his childhood he always had an interest in writing poetry. So he decided on a literary career and to get a toehold he entered films. He met his mentor, K. Bhagyaraj through his brother, who was a family friend. He worked with him in films and his magazine, Bhagya. His first film lyrics were for the film, Gyanapazhamin 1996. After about four years, he ventured out and several films like Vanathai Pola, Nee Varuvai Ena and so on happened. He drew the attention of the world by penning Ovvoru Pookalume for the film Autograph. Apart from films, he has started weekly poetry series in four Tamil magazines and also involved in translating great works in English into Tamil verse.

Vairamuthu, a noted Tamil poet and lyricist for tamil film industry was born in July 13, 1953, Vadugapatti, Theni District,Tamil

Nadu. He has been awarded the National Film Award five times in the Best Lyrics category. His literary contributions are well-respected by indians all around the world. He has givin Kalaimamani Award and Tamil Nadu State Government award thrice for his contribution. His 1st song, `Ithu Oru Ponmalai Pozhudhu' in `Nizhalgal', was wrote in in 1980 and since then Vairamuthu has never looked back. Today, he stands tall as a five-time winner of national award. He has constantly teamed with master-composer A. R. Rahman and ace director Mani Ratnam. The trio have delivered several musical hits including Roja, Bombay, Alaipayuthey and Kannathil Muthamittal. Vairamuthu was born in a rich farming community in Theni District near Periyakulam. His father was Ramaswamy Thevar and mother Angammal. The ambience of the village is said to have inspired him to write poems. Tamil and Rationalist movements of the sixties is said to have stimulated the poetic zeal in him. The speeches of Periyar & Anna, the writings of Karunanidhi and the works of eminent poets like Bharathi, Bharathidasan and Kannadasan and the life in the countryside shaped the young poet's thinking. While he was fourteen, he acquired the ability to write Yappu type of Venba poetry. In his school final exam in Tamil, Vairamuthu stood first in the entire Madurai District and won a silver cup.After completing his school education, he joined Pachaiyappa's college in Chennai

where he was acclaimed as the best speaker and poet. When he was in his second year of B.A. and barely nineteen years of age, Vairamuthu published his maiden anthology, Vaigarai Megangal. It was prescribed for study in the Women's Christian College. Thus, he achieved the distinction of a student poet whose work was taken into curriculum while he was still a student. His second work, Thiruththi Yezhudhiya Theerppugal, in pudhu kavidhai form was published in 1979. He made his film debut in the succeeding year when he set lyrics for Bharathiraja's Nizhalgal. Vairamuthu is among those who take pride in the Tamil heritage and swear by the traditional form's capacity to convey with ease modern and even complicated ideas. He is not, however, averse to change or modernism and he uses with equal felicity free verse (puthu kavithai in Tamil), wherever it suits him. For him, content is more important than the form. With nearly 6000 songs to his credit, he has published collections of poems for the discerning readers. His writings have also extended to genres such as novel, essay, biography and travelogue. In fact, three quarter of the books he has published in the last 30 years are mainly in prose.

On the literature front, his notable works include Innoru Desiya Geetham, Indha Pookkal Virppanai-kkalla, Sigarangalai nOkki, Villodu Vaa Nilave and many others numbering to 30. He has also introduced some foreign poets and their works to

Tamil in his Ella Nadhiyilum En Odum. Some of his works are translated into Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. The trend continues into hundreds of his film lyrics are translated into Hindi. His Chinna Chinna Aasai fascinated a Japanese troupe touring India so much, that they broke language barriers by singing the song during their shows.

He received the President's award for the Best Lyricist for his compositions in Muthal Mariyathai(1985), directed by Bharathiraja. Second award in 1993 for Roja, directed by Maniratnam. He was bestowed the honor of receiving this award for the third time, for his lyrics in the film, Karuththamma, another film directed by Bharathiraja,followed by sangamam and Kannathil Muthamittal, directed by Maniratnam. He remains as the only lyricist to receive this award five times at the national level. Among regional awards from the Tamilnadu Government, he received one in 1981 from the then Chief Minister, M. G. Ramachandran, a Best Architect of Films award in 1989 alongside the prestigious Kalaimaamani award in 1990. The Tamil Development Society of Madras conferred on him the title of Kaviyarasu in 1986.His Kaviraajan Kavidhai narrating Bharathi's life in Pudhu Kavidhai, was a commendable effort. It earned him the Bharathi Literature Prize. In 2003, Vairamuthu was awarded the Padma Shri. He is the Tamilnadu President of Indo-Russian Friendship Society. At the invitation of the Russian Government, Vairamuthu has

visited Russia to participate in an Indian cultural event in 1987. In response to invitations of various Tamil groups, he visited the U.S.A, United Kingdom, Canada, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malayasia, Thailand and Sri Lanka. His works have the underlying themes of humanism transcending barriers of space and race. He opened Tamil schools in Bangkok, Canada and Hong Kong promoting Tamil children living there to develop an interest in learning the language.