Veteran Musician Deva Dies At 75: Life And Legacy Of Thenisai Thendral

Add as a preferred source on Google

Tamil cinema has lost one of the voices that defined its sound in the 1990s. Veteran musician Deva, popularly known as Thenisai Thendral, passed away in Chennai on Saturday, 17 October, at the age of 75.

Photo Credit: X: @loksabha_tn

He was reportedly admitted to Surya Hospital at around 8:30 am, where he died. The cause of death has not been officially stated. Born Devanesan Chokkalingam on 20 November 1950, he went on to become one of the most recognisable composers in South Indian film music.

From Musical Troupes To The Big Screen

Music ran in the family. His brothers, Sabesh and Murali, worked as instrumentalists in the troupes of Ilaiyaraaja and other music directors. Before cinema fully claimed him, Deva worked with the Doordarshan Podhigai channel and composed songs for the show Vayalum Vaazhvum. He often credited his brothers for his success.

The title that stayed with him for life came early. He was given the name "Thenisai Thendral", meaning "breeze of sweet music". Within months, he received his first major film opportunity. His debut as a film music director was Manasukkeththa Maharaasa in 1989.

A Career Built On Tunes People Hummed

His rise in the 1990s was swift. In 1992, he composed the music for Annaamalai, starring Rajinikanth, and in 1996 alone he created tunes for 36 films. The decade is often remembered for the parallel prominence of Deva and A R Rahman.

Over the years, he composed music for more than 400 films across Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam cinema, besides a large body of devotional music. He worked with leading stars including Kamal Haasan, Ajith and Vijay. He was also a prolific singer, lending his voice to songs in his own films and to those of other composers.

The Sound Of Gaana

Deva's name is closely tied to gaana, the Chennai street-music style rooted in Madras Tamil. He is widely known as the "father of the gaana genre" in Tamil cinema. His style has been described as favouring simplicity, immediacy and memorability, with special emphasis on the pallavi, or refrain. That approach turned film songs into everyday chants, and many of the songs that helped make Rajinikanth a superstar in the 1990s carried his tunes.

A Composer Who Kept Learning

Audiences saw him as a gaana composer, but his roots ran deeper. He had a strong grounding in Carnatic music and a deep affection for melody. Earlier this year, he spoke about wanting to explore classical music more, and the film Charukesi helped fulfil that long-held wish.

He also stayed in step with younger talent. In 2014, Anirudh Ravichander chose him to sing a gaana song on the album Maan Karate, and called him the "father of the gaana genre". His reach extended well beyond Tamil Nadu. At 74, he performed a four-hour concert in Singapore before a crowd of 4,300, and had earlier considered it one of his biggest honours when the late Singapore president S R Nathan wished for one of his songs to be played at his state funeral.

Tributes And Family

The news has come as a shock to the Tamil film industry. Actor Khushbu Sundar paid tribute on social media, remembering him as a man as sweet as honey and as light-hearted as the wind.

Deva is survived by his son Srikanth Deva, who is also a prominent music composer. His brother Sabesh, one half of the music-director duo Sabesh-Murali, died in October 2025 at the age of 68.