MUMBAI: Top-notch music director V Dakshinamurthy who composed more than 850 songs in Malayalam, Hindi and Tamil, died at his house in Mylapore on Friday at the age of 94. Endearingly called as 'Swamy' by the film fraternity and his fans, he was unwell for some time now.

One of the most popular composers in Malayalam since the 1960s, Dakshinamoorthy made his debut in Malayalam cinema with Jeevitha Nouka in 1951. In a career that spanned 50 years he experimented by infusing various ragas in the same song, which, according to music buffs, reflected his resourcefulness and innovativeness.

Dakshinamoothy composed maximum number of super hit songs. Some of the popular songs from this team include 'Hridaya sarasile pranaya pushpame,' 'Vaikkathashtami nalil,' 'Arattinanakal ezhunnalli,' 'Tharaka roopini,' 'Manohari nin manoradhathil' and 'Uthara swayamvaram kathakali kanuvan.'

Dakshinamoorthy, the maestro of semi-classical songs, introduced several singers like P Susheela to films; he also played a major role in the career of three generations of the Yesudas family, including his father Augustine Joseph and son Vijay Yesudas.

In 1971 Dakshinamoorthy won the Kerala State Film Award for the best music director and received the state government's lifetime achievement award in 1998. He retired from active film music composing in the 1980s. But he continued his classical music concerts till three years ago and he used to sing his own compositions. Swamy was sage who could apply Carnatic music in all types of songs he did.