Isaac Thomas Kottukapally

Isaac Thomas Kottukapally (1948/9 – 18 February 2021) was an Indian film score composer, music director and script writer working mainly in Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. He scored music for several English documentaries and commercials.

Isaac debuted as a composer into the film industry with the National award winning Kannada film Thaayi Saheba (1997) directed by Girish Kasaravalli. For his background score in the film Adaminte Makan Abu (2010), Isaac won the Best Music Director award at the 58th National Film Awards. Besides this, he won the Kerala State Film Awards five times for his score in various Malayalam films.

Early life Isaac was the son of former Member of Parliament George Thomas Kottukapally and was a member of the Kottukapally family of Pala, Kerala. His childhood activities were predominantly into arts and music. He did his schooling at the Bishop Cotton Boys' School. At home in Pala, he was exposed to an extensive collection of music and literature. His fascination with the works of composers like C. Ramachandra, Bombay Ravi, Madan Mohan and S. D. Burman pushed him towards music composition. He was interested in ballets and operas and also began to write scripts. While doing his graduation at the Madras Christian College, he decided to enroll himself at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) at Pune. He obtained his postgraduate diploma in Film direction and screenplay writing. Subsequently, he began to assist G. Aravindan for films like Thampu (1978), Kummatty (1979) and Esthappan (1980).

Career Isaac entered into film composing with the Kannada film Thaayi Saheba released in 1997. The film was received well by the critics and the music was appreciated. This paved the way for a long association of Isaac with the director Girish Kasaravalli. He went on to score Kasaravalli's future films such as Kraurya (1996), Dweepa (2002), Naayi Neralu (2006) and Gulabi Talkies (2008).

In Malayalam, he composed for many films such as Margam, Sancharram, Kutty Srank, Punyam Aham and Adaminte Makan Abu, which won him Kerala State Awards and National film award. His score for the 1:1.6 An Ode to Lost Love (2004) was also appreciated at the Panorama at the International Film Festival of India.

He Composed famous theme songs of Malayalam Televeision channels like Kairali Television - 'Neelavaaninnu Keezhilayi' ..Lyrics O. N. V. Kurup He made several advertisements. He introduced A. R. Rahman to the world ad jingles as musici composer in 1987. The ad was for Bhavan’s Photo Studio, Ernakulam. The 60-second ad jingle was on every Malayali’s lips for a long time. Later AR Rahman became famous musician after the release of the Tamil Film Roja.

Discography Year Film Language Songs Background score Notes 1994 Swaham Malayalam 1998 Thaayi Saheba Kannada 2002 Nishaad Hindi 2002 Bhavam Malayalam 2002 Dweepa Kannada 2003 Margam Malayalam 2004 Bimba Kannada 2004Kanavu Meippada VendumTamil 2004 Sancharram Malayalam 2004 Oridam Malayalam 2004 Kaya Taran Hindi 2004 Kathavasheshan Malayalam 2004 Hasina Kannada 2006 Kamli Telugu 2006 Naayi Neralu Kannada 2006 Kurukshetram Tamil 2007 Thoovanam Tamil 2008 Aadum Koothu Tamil 2008 Gulabi Talkies Kannada 2009 Boomi Malayalam Malayalam 2010 Adaminte Makan Abu Malayalam 2010 Veettilekkulla Vazhi Malayalam 2010 Kutty Srank Malayalam 2011 Koormavatara Kannada 2011 Varnam Tamil 2012 Parudeesa Malayalam 2013 Kunjananthante Kada Malayalam

Awards and nominations Award Year Project Category Won Kerala State Film Award 2002 Bhavam Best Background Music Kerala State Film Award 2003 Margam Best Background Score Kerala State Film Award 2004 Sancharram & Oridam Best Background Score National Film Award 2010 Adaminte Makan Abu Best Background Score Kerala State Film Award 2010 Adaminte Makan Abu, Veettilekkulla Vazhi Best Background Score