Devanesan Chokkalingam — Deva to everyone who ever queued for a Rajinikanth first-day-first-show — died in Chennai on Saturday after complaining of chest pain. He was 75. Doctors at a private hospital in Kodambakkam said he had no pulse on arrival and could not be revived. With him goes the man whose music has announced every Rajinikanth film since 1992: the “Super Star Rajni” title-card score, first written for Annamalai, that still plays before the star’s name appears — including in the just-released Jailer 2.
Deva was the godfather of gaana, the street music of Chennai that he carried into mainstream cinema. Rising to prominence in the late 1980s and 1990s, he composed for more than 400 films across Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam — Annamalai, Baashha, Aasai, Kadhal Kottai, Vaalee among them — and wrote and sang many of his own gaana numbers. The Baashha theme became synonymous with Rajinikanth’s screen persona; Naan Autokaaran became an anthem for autorickshaw drivers. He won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Aasai and the Kalaimamani honour from the state government.
Tributes from the industry’s biggest names
Rajinikanth arrived at Deva’s T. Nagar residence on Saturday to pay his last respects, visibly emotional, and shared a video message mourning him. Kamal Haasan, who collaborated with Deva on Avvai Shanmugi, Pammal K. Sambandam and Panchatanthiram, wrote: “The news of my dear brother Deva’s passing is shocking. He was a vibrant soul, full of enthusiasm and zeal, with a penchant for light-hearted humour and hearty laughter.” Tributes also poured in from Khushbu Sundar, Vijay Sethupathi and singer Chinmayi, who said she had met him just ten days earlier.
A family of musicians
Deva’s musical line runs on. His son Srikanth Deva is a composer, and his brothers Sabesh and Murali work as the Sabesh-Murali music-directing duo. Born in Mylapore on November 20, 1950, he came to film music through television and stage shows — including Doordarshan’s Podhigai channel — before his 1986 debut Maattukara Mannaru. At a time when Ilaiyaraaja dominated and A.R. Rahman was ushering in a revolution, Deva carved his own identity: simple, catchy tunes in the language of the common man. That is why his songs are still sung at international film events — and why, for three decades, the first sound of a Rajinikanth film was his.
