Veteran Drums player, music conductor and percussionist Purushothaman passed away yesterday on the 19th of May. He was 65 years old and has been working with Isai Gnani Ilayaraja for over 40 years. Purushothaman was suffering from a few medical issues and had been under treatment for a while. His wife had passed away very recently, the couple have two children. Purushothaman has been working with Ilayaraja for over 4 decades, almost from his first film Anakali, till now. He was a drummer basically; he used to play drums and other percussions and also used conduct the orchestra. He has worked with him in almost all Ilayaraja projects including non-film projects like How to name it and Nothing but wind.

Purushothaman’s death is not only a huge loss to Ilayaraaja but to the entire musical fraternity. Music directors like SS Thaman and Sean Roldan have expressed their grief on Twitter - “Puru uncle the #grooveman for the legend #ilayaraja sir The man who introduced digital rhythm programming in 1980’s . Very loving caring person encouraged me a lot in my struggling days with his machines to study & learn . Rest in peace uncle We miss U #purushothaman” - SS Thaman