Kalamandalam Neelakantan Nambisan (1920–1985) was a trend-setter Kathakali musician who played a crucial role in remoulding the aesthetics of singing for the classical dance-drama of Kerala, south India. Nambisan imbibed a set of fresh musical ideas from his epoch-making guru Mundaya Venkitakrishna Bhagavatar(1881-1957), developed them to sound even better and handed them over to a set of disciples, most of whom gained name and fame sooner or later.