Composer Deva, Who Scored Rajinikanth's Title Card, Dies at 75 in Chennai

Devanesan Chokkalingam, the composer known as Deva, died in Chennai on Saturday, Oct. 17, 2026. He was 75.

He complained of chest pain in the morning and was taken to Surya Hospital in Kodambakkam. Doctors said he died despite efforts to resuscitate him. Reports put his arrival at the hospital at around 8:30 a.m.

His body will be kept at his residence in T Nagar, Chennai, so the public can pay last respects. No funeral schedule had been announced as of this writing.

The sound of the title card

Deva's most recognizable piece of work is also one of his shortest. The score he wrote for Rajinikanth in Annamalai (1992) still plays when the "Super Star Rajni" title card appears on screen. It has opened every Rajinikanth film since, including the recent Jailer 2.

He also wrote the music for Baashha. The Baashha theme became tied to Rajinikanth's screen persona, and "Naan Autokaaran" became an anthem for autorickshaw drivers across Tamil Nadu.

Anirudh Ravichander, who now scores many of the star's films, has said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India: "My favourite Rajinikanth songs are composed by Deva Sir."

Gaana goes mainstream

Deva's larger legacy is gaana, the folk-rooted music of Chennai's working-class neighborhoods, especially North Chennai. He put its rhythms and colloquial lyrics into film soundtracks. He wrote and sang many of those numbers himself.

He did it while Ilaiyaraaja dominated Tamil film music and A.R. Rahman was reshaping it. Deva did not try to out-polish either man. He built his name on simple tunes, familiar beats and everyday language. The nickname "Thenisai Thendral" stuck, and so did the title "Godfather of Gaana."

He was no one-note composer. He scored Kamal Haasan's Avvai Shanmugi, a very different musical job from the hero-introduction themes he wrote for Rajinikanth. He also composed romantic melodies and devotional songs.

Career by the numbers

Deva was born Nov. 20, 1950, in Mylapore, Chennai. He would have turned 76 next month. One account gives his age at death as 76, but the birth date makes him 75.

He trained in piano under Dhanraj Master, who also taught Ilaiyaraaja, and studied Indian classical music on the harmonium under J.B. Krishna. His brothers Sabesh and Murali, both instrumentalists who worked with Ilaiyaraaja and others, helped him into the film industry.

His first film credit was Maattukara Mannaru in 1986. He then stepped away from cinema for a time. He worked at Doordarshan's Podhigai channel, where he composed songs for the farming program Vayalum Vaazhvum, and he recorded hundreds of devotional pieces in the 1980s.

His first major film with established stars was Manasukketha Maharasa in 1989. Vaigasi Poranthachu followed, and the 1990s belonged to him.

Over nearly four decades he composed songs and scores for more than 400 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam. His credits include:

• Annamalai and Baashha, with Rajinikanth
• Aasai and Kadhal Kottai, with Ajith Kumar
• Minsara Kanna and Kushi, with Vijay
• Nerrukku Ner, Ninaithen Vandhai, Priyamudan and Vaalee

He won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director for Aasai and received the state government's Kalaimamani award. He kept singing late in his career, including a gaana number for Anirudh's Maan Karate in 2014.

Tributes

Actor-politician Khushbu Sundar said on X that she had seen him healthy and laughing just 10 days earlier. "Absolutely devastated. Unbelievable," she wrote. "Gone too soon. Why??"

Actor Vijay Sethupathi wrote that Deva "left an indelible mark on the music world of Tamil cinema." Actor Sibi Sathyaraj called him "a complete allrounder" and "a delight for Directors and Producers." Singer Chinmayi wrote: "Just dont know how to process the passing of Deva Sir. Huge loss."

His son, composer Srikanth Deva, was seen in tears at the hospital. Srikanth went on to build his own career in film music.

Deva's death comes at the same moment his best-known theme is playing in theaters again. Jailer 2 opened in cinemas this week with the title-card music he wrote 34 years ago. Details of his final rites are the next thing his family is expected to announce.