Deva, the veteran Tamil film composer and singer who made gaana songs a fixture of mainstream Tamil cinema, died at a hospital in Chennai on 17 October 2026. He was 75. Tributes followed within hours from the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister's Office, producers, actors and lyricists, with the Chief Minister's statement calling his death a great loss to Tamil cinema.
A career built on gaana and melody
Born Devanesan Chokkalingam on 20 November 1950, he made his debut as a film composer with Mattukkara Mannaru in 1986. Known to fans as "Thenisai Thendral", he also composed the music that plays over Rajinikanth's on-screen "Super Star" title card.
The statement from the Chief Minister's Office said he scored more than 400 films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada, and wrote and sang many gaana numbers himself. It noted that he had received several honours, including the Kalaimamani award, and said his songs would endure in the history of film music.
DMK president M.K. Stalin wrote that Deva brought gaana into film music on a large scale, to the point where the genre became synonymous with his name.
Collaborators remember him
Lyricist Vairamuthu, in a tribute written in verse, listed films the two worked on together, among them Annamalai, Baashha, Arunachalam, Vaalee, Kushi, Nerrukku Ner, Aasai and Panchathanthiram. He credited the composer for the success of their songs and said losing him felt like losing one of his own fingers.
Kamal Haasan called Deva a dear brother and recalled the lively mood on Avvai Shanmughi, Pammal K Sambandam and Panchathanthiram, the films they made together. The actor remembered a man full of energy who laughed heartily at even a small joke.
Producer Ishari K Ganesh of Vels Film International described the death as sudden and wrote: "His loss is an irreplaceable void to the Indian music industry." Actor RJ Balaji said working with the composer on Mookuthi Amman would remain "a cherished memory".
Shock across the industry
Actor Khushbu Sundar said she had been with him about 10 days earlier, when he was "healthy and laughing". Actor Vijay Sethupathi wrote that the composer's music and songs would live on in people's memories.
