Vairamuthu Ramasamy (born 13 July 1953)[5] is an Indian lyricist, poet, and novelist working in the Tamil film industry.

Vairamuthu was born on 13 July 1953, to Ramasamy and his wife Angammal, who were agriculturalists based in the village of Mettoor, in the district of Theni, Tamil Nadu.

The Dravidian movement in Tamil Nadu during the 1960s, made a significant impression on his youth and he was inspired by several prominent individuals associated with language, such as Periyar E. V. Ramasamy, 'Perarignar' Annadurai, Kalaignar Mu.

He began writing poems from the age of ten and by his early teens, he was noted as a prominent orator and poet in his school.

In addition to this, he continued writing poetry, bringing out a second anthology of poems in 1979, titled Thiruthi Ezhuthiya Theerpugal ('Revised and rewritten').

Their joint association with director Bharathiraja, led to some of the most critically acclaimed soundtracks such as Alaigal Oivathillai (which won Vairamuthu his first Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Lyricist), Kaadhal Oviyam, Mann Vasanai, Pudhumai Penn, Oru Kaidhiyin Diary, Muthal Mariyathai (which won Vairamuthu his first National Award for Best Lyricist) and Kadalora Kavithaigal.

Besides their work with Bharathiraja, the combination of the lyricist and the composer tasted success with more soundtracks such as Raja Paarvai, Ninaivellam Nithya, Nallavanukku Nallavan, Salangai Oli and Sindhu Bhairavi (the latter two yielding Ilaiyaraaja his first two National Awards for Music Direction).

After their split, Vairamuthu's career stalled for the next five years, when he worked largely on lyrics for other language films that were dubbed in Tamil.

He also worked with Bollywood composers such as R. D. Burman in the film Ulagam Pirandhadhu Enakkaga and the duo Laxmikant–Pyarelal on Uyire Unakkaga.

During this time, he also collaborated with composer Chandrabose on the films Shankar Guru, Makkal En Pakkam, Manithan, Katha Nayagan, Thaimel Aanai, Paatti Sollai Thattathe, Vasanthi, Raja Chinna Roja and Sugamana Sumaigal.

In 1991, K. Balachander signed Vairamuthu as a lyricist for three of his productions, which were set for release in the following year: Vaaname Ellai, Annamalai and Roja.

In addition to their association with Mani Ratnam, the team of Rahman and Vairamuthu are also noted for their collaboration with director Shankar (on Gentleman, Kadhalan, Indian, Jeans, Mudhalvan, Sivaji, and Enthiran), Bharathiraja (on Kizhakku Cheemayile, Karuththamma, Anthimanthaarai and Taj Mahal), K. S. Ravikumar (on Muthu, Padayappa and Varalaru) and Rajiv Menon (on Minsara Kanavu and Kandukonden Kandukonden).

Vairamuthu is also known for his work in the 90s and early 2000s with composer Deva, on popular soundtracks such as Annamalai, Baasha, Aasai, Once More, Arunachalam, Nerukku Ner, Vaali, Kushi, and Panchathanthiram.

He has also worked extensively with Bharadwaj (on popular soundtracks such as Kaadhal Mannan, Pooveli, Amarkalam, Rojavanam, Parthen Rasithen, Rojakootam, Gemini, Jay Jay, Attagasam, Vasool Raja MBBS, Idhaya Thirudan, Vattaram, Asal and Aayirathil Iruvar), Harris Jayaraj, D. Imman, Vidyasagar, Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy (on both their Tamil projects, Aalavandhan and Vishwaroopam), N. R. Raghunanthan (which secured him his sixth National Award for the film Thenmerku Paruvakaatru) and Yuvan Shankar Raja (the son of Ilaiyaraaja; their association yielded him his seventh National Award for the film Dharma Durai).

This saga won Vairamuthu the Sahitya Akademi Award for the Best Literary Work in the year 2003, and has been translated into 22 languages.

[9] Karuvachchi Kaviyam revolves around a vulnerable Indian village woman who has been enslaved by the illiterate male chauvinistic community.

The author was heartbroken when the poverty-stricken farmers who were unable to feed their families due to failure of monsoon, severe drought conditions, debt and despair, committed suicide.

Vairamuthu later issued an apology claiming that his speech was intentionally twisted by vested interests and that he has expressed regret for a mistake he did not commit and also said that he only intends to glorify Andal and he has been working on many great Tamil poets.

[14] Minor girls and boys in Nithyananda's Ashram published videos using derogatory language, many sexual in nature, as they questioned his speech.

[16] In 2018, as a part of the #MeToo movement, Vairamuthu was accused of sexual harassment by singer Chinmayi Sripaada[17] and Bhuvana Seshan.

[19] Hayma Malini Yugendran (Malaysia Vasudevan's Daughter-in-law) claimed that one of the presenters of a TV channel, where she worked was harassed by Vairamuthu.

[22] Additionally, in an interview with News7, a Tamil News Channel, A. R. Reihana had mentioned that she has known about the harassment faced by multiple women in the film industry with Vairamuthu in the past and that it is an "Open Secret".