Chennai, 17 October

Noted music composer Deva, hugely popular for his unique 'gana' style, died here on Saturday.

He was 75 and breathed his last at a private hospital here, sources said.

'Gana' songs, Deva's gift to the Tamil speaking people, may be described as a kind of music composition, which, in a way brought to mainstream the subaltern world; its likes and dislikes and the rough and tumble of the youth community as well.

In his nearly four decade career, Deva composed music for over 400 films, which includes runaway hits such as Rajinikanth-starrers 'Annamalai' (1992) and 'Baasha' (1995), both directed by Suresh Krissna, besides Kamal Haasan's Pammal K Sambandam (2002) and Panchathanthiram, which also released in the same year.

Devout, Deva's stentorian voice is very popular and he has himself sung a variety of songs.

Besides his hit songs, some of Deva's background scores are still a hit with the moviegoers. These include the pulsating "Baasha, Baasha" score from the Rajinikanth-starrer blockbuster.

But more importantly, it was his score to veteran comedian Goundamani's antics in the Tamil film 'Sooriyan' (1992) that is still vividly remembered by movie lovers. So much so that it was played even in Deva's recent music concerts, leaving the music-lovers in splits and making many to break into a gig like Goundamani did on screen nearly 30 years ago that saw peels of laughter in the theatres then.

Deva was known for his trademark white pyjama-kurta and white sandals, with his choice of footwear reportedly inspired by Rajinikanth.

Deva's son Srikanth Deva is also a well-known music director.

The film fraternity, Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay and various political leaders expressed profound grief over the demise of Deva.