Deva (composer)

Devanesan Chokkalingam, more popularly known as Deva, is an Indian composer and singer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. He has composed songs and provided background music for Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam films in a career closing in on four decades. He has composed music for more than 400 films. Career Born in 1950 in Mylapore, Chennai, Deva grew up in a financially constrained household and did not receive formal musical training in his early years. He developed an interest in music through exposure to public performances and later taught himself the harmonium while working in the Tamil theatre circuit. He was associated with stage musicians such as Kamesh and Rajamani, initially working in a non-musical capacity before becoming a performer. In 1973, he co-founded a musical troupe with composer Chandrabose. After an early, partial involvement in film projects, Deva briefly stepped away from cinema. During this period, Deva worked in Doordarshan Podhigai channel and composed songs for the show Vayalum Vaazhvum. He learned piano under Dhanraj Master—who also taught Illayaraja—and studied Indian classical music on the harmonium under J. B. Krishna. By the 1980s, he