Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay on Saturday expressed profound shock and deep sorrow over the passing of veteran music composer Deva. In a condolence message, Vijay said, “On learning of the passing of Thiru. Deva, the unique music composer of Tamil cinema who captivated the hearts of the common people with his music and folk songs, I am filled with profound shock and deep sorrow.
Devanesan Chokkalingam, or Deva as he was known, composed music for over 400 films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, and Kannada languages, and has also written and sung many folk songs himself. Deva, who received numerous awards including Kalaimamani, will be remembered for his musical journey and his songs will forever endure in the history of film music. His demise is an irreplaceable loss to Tamil cinema.
I convey my deepest condolences and sympathies to the family members grieving the loss of music composer Thiru. Deva, as well as to his relatives, friends, film industry colleagues, and music lovers, the Chief Minister stated in a message.
Popularly known as ‘Thenisai Thendral’ and hugely popular for his unique ‘gana’ style, Deva (76) breathed his last at a private hospital here. ‘Gana’ songs, Deva’s gift to the Tamil-speaking people, may be described as a kind of musical composition which, in a way, brought the subaltern world into the mainstream.
In his nearly four-decade career, Deva composed music for runaway hits such as Rajinikanth-starrers ‘Annamalai’ (1992) and ‘Baasha’ (1995), besides Kamal Haasan’s Pammal K Sambandam (2002) and Panchathanthiram, which was also released in the same year.
Deva was the first music director to recognize Vijay’s potential as a singer
Deva also composed the music for several of Vijay’s films, beginning with Rasigan in 1994, followed by Deva and Vishnu in 1995, Nerrukku Ner and Once More in 1997, Priyamudan and Ninaithen Vandhai in 1998, and Kushi in 2000, where Deva won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director and Bagavathi in 2002. Vijay also sang songs under Deva’s direction, totaling 10 songs across their collaborations over his musical career. He was in fact the first music director to recognize Vijay’s potential as a singer, launching his playback career in 1994.
Deva’s son Srikanth Deva is also a well-known music director. The film fraternity, Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, and various political leaders expressed profound grief over the demise of Deva.
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