Deva (Devanesan Chokkalingam) was an Indian film composer and singer known as the “Godfather of Gaana” and “Thenisai Thendral”. He died in Chennai on 17 October 2026 at the age of 75.
He composed music for more than 400 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, including Rajinikanth’s Annamalai and Baasha and Vijay’s Kushi. His son Srikanth Deva and his brothers Sabesh and Murali are also composers.