Na Muthukumar, one of Tamil cinema's finest lyricists, passed away in Chennai on Sunday.

He was 41 and was suffering from jaundice for the past few days.

He won two national awards for the songs "Ananda Yazhai Meetukiral" in "Thanga Meengal" and "Azhage Azhage" in "Saivam" and has written over a 1000 songs.

Tributes have been pouring in from across the Tamil film industry. 

Also Read: National award winning Tamil lyricist Na Muthukumar passes away

Here are some of his timeless songs. 

"Avan Ivan" was Na Muthukumar's attempt to write a song that reflected today's youth and their sentiments.

Speaking to The Times of India, he said, "Philosophical songs seem to be making a comeback. Youngsters these days seem to prefer such songs and I've penned one such song for Bala's 'Avan Ivan'. This number, I'm sure, is going to be to the liking of youngsters."

Muthukumar deemed the National award winning "Azhagu azhagu" from Director Vijay's movie "Saivam" as one of the most challenging songs he had written.

In an interview with Rediff, he said, "The song was to be picturised on a six-year-old in the film. Director Vijay was very particular that we use very simple language.  

But though he wanted a child's vocabulary, he did not want me to compromise on the emotion or depth of the song.It was quite a challenge.

Fortunately, everything worked out well - the lyrics, the wonderful music by GV Prakash and the most beautiful vocals.

"Veyil oda vilayadu", a song from the movie "Veyil" was also considered a turning point in his career.

This followed Thanga Meengal's "Anandayazhai meetugerar" is a beautiful tribute to the father daughter relationship that the film revolves around. 

Na Muthukumar tries to capture the essence of a faher's love for his daughter and the ease and effortlessness of communicating and sharing vulnerability especially with a line that translates to - Language is not at all necessary when both our hearts share the same thoughts. 

Written in classical Tamil, he scooped a second national award for this song. 

"Suttum Vizhi Chudare" from the movie "Ghajini" was another gem that conveyed the intensity and excitement that comes with infatuation.

An accurate depiction of the emotions that come with love at first sight, the song was a huge hit especially among the youth at the time and seeped into Tamil pop culture soon enough.
 

Rest in peace, Na Muthukumar. Your music will stay alive and well.