C. O. Anto Biography 
C. O. Anto was a leading playback singer belonging to Malayalam cinema. He was most active in the era of 1960s and 1970s, which is termed as the golden era of Malayalam cinema music. Known for his distinct voice,"Kummiyadikkuvin" for the movie Kadalamma in 1963 marked his playback singing debut in movies. "Madhurikkum Ormakale", "Kummiyadikkuvin", "Chingakkulirkatte Agnipushpam", and "Vasantharavin” are some of his popular film songs. He was also associated with theatre as a singer, and his most popular song is "Kannillathoru Kadalppalam”. Despite being talented, he didn’t receive the recognition comparing his contemporaries – K. J. Yesudas and Jayachandran, and he faded away with time.
C. O. Anto hailed from Kochi, Kerala. He was a trained Carnatic singer. He joined film industry as a playback singer in the year 1963 and since then he sang 178 Malayalam songs from 160 films. He was active in singing field till his last years. He was given the first break to films by G. Devarajan when he offered the song, Kummiyadikkuvin for Kadalamma in 1963. After that, though he was not a busy artist in playback singing, he regularly got opportunity in singing. In 1965 he played a supporting role in highly acclaimed film co-starring Sathyan, Odayil Ninnu. But later he fully concentrated on to his singing career.
Kudumbini, Oraal Koodi Kallanaayi, Kaattuthulasi, Daaham, Inapraavukal, Asuravithu, Pengal, Thirichadi, Vidyaarthi, Paadunna Puzha, Love In Kerala, Lakshaprabhu, Ezhu Raathrikal etc are the movies in which he sang in the 1960s. In the 1960s though he was busy with playback singer, his career graph slanted down in the 1970s. Since 1990s, opportunities turned negligible. He passed away on 24 February 2001.
Published: September 08, 2018
Updated: September 08, 2018
