Deva, veteran music composer, passes away | Funeral live updates
Thenisai Thendral Deva was 75 and breathed his last at a private hospital here, sources said.
Tamil film music composer Deva passed away on Saturday, October 17, 2026, aged 75, according to hospital sources. He arrived at the hospital with no pulse, and efforts to revive him were unsuccessful. Deva, whose real name was Devanesan Chokkalingam, had a successful career in the Tamil film industry, where he introduced gaana music to mainstream cinema.
Born in Chennai, Deva began his professional journey in the Tamil Nadu government's Public Works Department before making his debut as a film music composer in 1986 with the film Mattukkara Mannaru. Though the film failed at the box office, its songs later gained popularity. Deva's breakthrough came with the Ramarajan-starrer Manasuketha Maharasa, and he gained wider recognition with the 1990 release Vaikasi Poranthachu, which earned him the first Tamil Nadu State Film Award for Best Music Director.
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