Krishnankoil Venkadachalam Mahadevan (14 March 1918 – 21 June 2001) was an Indian composer, singer-songwriter, music producer, and musician known for his works in Tamil cinema, Telugu cinema, Kannada cinema, and Malayalam cinema.
He is best known for his contributions in works such as Manchi Manasulu (1962), Lava Kusa (1963), Thiruvilaiyadal (1965), Saraswathi Sabatham (1966), Kandan Karunai (1967), Thillana Mohanambal (1968), Adimai Penn (1969), Balaraju Katha (1970), Athiparasakthi (1971), Sankarabharanam (1979), Saptapadi (1981), Sirivennela (1986), Sruthilayalu (1987), Pelli Pustakam (1991), and Swathi Kiranam (1992).
A contemporary of M.
S.
Viswanathan and T.
K.
Ramamoorthy, starting his career in the 1942 with Manonmani, Mahadevan scored music for over six hundred feature films, spanning four decades, and has garnered two National Film Awards, the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director, three Nandi Awards for Best Music Director, and the Filmfare Best Music Director Award (Telugu).
He was also conferred the title of "Thirai Isai Thilagam" (Pride of Cine Music Directors) in Tamil cinema.