Ranipet , Veteran Tamil music composer and singer Deva, popularly known as ‘Thenisai Thendral’, was laid to rest with full state honours at his family farmland in Sakkaramallur near Arcot, Ranipet district, on Sunday.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay had visited Deva’s residence in Chennai to pay his respects and announced that the funeral would be held with state honours in recognition of the composer’s contribution to the music industry.
His real breakthrough, however, came in 1990 with the Prashanth-starrer ‘Vaigasi Poranthachu’, which won him widespread acclaim. Thousands of people gathered at the site to pay their last respects to the celebrated music director. ‘Manasukketha Maharasa’ , starring Ramarajan and Seetha, was the film that first drew attention to his work. Few composers in Tamil cinema are as closely identified with one genre as Deva is with ‘gaana’, the urban folk music born in the working-class neighbourhoods of North Chennai. He worked with nearly every leading star of his time, among them Vijayakanth, Sarathkumar, Vijay and Ajith, and delivered some of the biggest hits of their careers. His death drew tributes from political leaders, members of the film fraternity and fans across Tamil Nadu.
Born Devanesan Chokkalingam, Deva had a career spanning nearly four decades and composed music for more than 400 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam.
