Cultural connoisseur ‘Soorya’ Krishnamoorthy, who dedicated much of his life to promote arts in its various forms, passed away in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday (September 23, 2026). He was 78. He has been under treatment at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.
An engineer by profession, Mr. Krishnamoorthy began his career as a scientist in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) in the early 1970s. Right from his early days in the organisation, he had been dedicating much of his free time for cultural activities, especially in film societies. The activities culminated in the staging of his first show Thamaso Ma Jyothirgamaya at the University Senate Hall on September 3, 1977.
A few weeks later, he started the Soorya Stage and Film Society, which has since then been bringing the best of musicians, dancers and films to Thiruvananthapuram, every year without fail as part of the Soorya Music, Dance and Film Festival.
During Soorya’s 40th anniversary, Mr. Krishnamoorthy told The Hindu that when he founded the cultural organisation, that later became synonymous with his name, his only motivation was that he wanted to watch films and artistes the city residents got to watch only rarely.
The idea
The idea for the festival took root when Mr. Krishnamoorthy was at Carnatic musician M.S. Subbulakshmi’s house. There was singer Yesudas, Bharatanatyam dancer Padma Subrahmanyam and mridangam player Mavelikkara Krishnankutty Nair at her house. When he told them about the festival, all three promised to perform every year, while Subbulakshmi said that she would perform whenever she could. They all kept their promise. Yesudas was at the Soorya stage with his Carnatic concert every single year until ill health prevented him. Padma Subrahmanyam performed continuously for 38 years, until her health prevented her from coming. Krishnankutty Nair too was a regular, until he passed away.
No tickets, no awards
Mr. Krishnamoorthy also stuck to the rules with which the festival was started—no awards, no ticketed shows. It still follows the membership system with which it began. As soon as the society was floated, thousands of people joined in. There has always been a long waiting list for membership. Later, the Soorya festival expanded out of its home city, and began organising one-day shows in Gulf countries, the U.S., Europe, and Australia.
Parallel to organising the over 100-day festival, Mr. Krishnamoorthy found time for conceiving acclaimed sound and light shows. His play Melvilasom became hugely popular with hundreds of stagings, before being adapted into the courtroom drama film of the same name in 2011.
In 2018, he turned the ‘Ganesham’ performance venue behind his house at Thycaud in Thiruvananthapuram into a black box theatre, the second of its kind in the State, to be used free of cost by anyone who wants to stage a play or screen films. A few years ago, Mr. Krishnamoorthy himself had designed a black box theatre in Thrissur that now serves as one of the venues of the annual International Theatre Festival of Kerala.
Kerala Prabha Award
In 2023, he was honoured with Kerala Prabha Award, the second-highest honour given by the Government of Keralam. He served as the Chairperson of the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi.
Condoling his death, Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan said that Mr. Krishnamoorthy was a revolutionary figure who ushered in new waves of technical innovation and artistic sensibility in Malayalam theatre. Leader of the Opposition Pinarayi Vijayan recalled him as someone who combined scientific temper with a deep sense of aesthetics.
Published – September 23, 2026 08:35 pm IST
