Gandham Sriprasad (2 August 1979), known as Devi Sri Prasad or more commonly by his initials DSP, is an Indian music composer, singer, and lyricist primarily known for his work in
Telugu cinema
Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of Film, motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Based in Film N ...
, along with
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Ch ...
.
He has received numerous accolades, including a
National Film Award
The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...
, a
Nandi Award, ten
Filmfare Awards
The Filmfare Awards are annual awards that honour artistic and technical excellence in the Indian cinema.Al The Filmfare ceremony is one of the most famous film events in India. The awards were introduced by Filmfare magazine of The Times G ...
, seven
SIIMA Awards, and five
CineMAA Awards.
Over his 25-year career, Devi Sri Prasad has worked on more than 100 films. He began his music career in 1997 by contributing to the studio album ''Dance Party''. Prasad made his debut as a film composer at the age of 19 with the 1999 Telugu film
''Devi''. His breakthrough in Telugu cinema came with the soundtrack of ''
Anandam'' in 2001.
Early and personal life
Devi Sri Prasad was born in
Vedurupaka in
East Godavari district
East Godavari is a district in the Coastal Andhra region of Andhra Pradesh, India. Its district headquarters is at Rajamahendravaram.
Geography
This district is surrounded by:
* North East: Alluri Sitharama Raju district
* North West: Eluru ...
,
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
in a
Telugu family. His father,
G. Satyamurthy, was a screenwriter in
Telugu cinema
Telugu cinema, also known as Tollywood, is the segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to the production of Film, motion pictures in the Telugu language, widely spoken in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Based in Film N ...
, who has penned popular films like ''
Devatha'', ''
Khaidi No. 786'', and ''
Pedarayudu''. His father hails from
Vedurupaka. He is named after his maternal grandparents, Devi Meenakshi, and Prasada Rao. He has a brother
Sagar who is also a singer.
Career
Film score and soundtracks
1999–2001: Career beginnings and breakthrough
In his debut music album ''Dance Party'', he collaborated with veteran singer SP Balasubrahmanyam's son
S. P. Charan. He then composed score and soundtrack of the 1999 Telugu film
''Devi'', thus marking his debut as a film music composer at the age of 19.
Prasad made his breakthrough with the soundtrack album of the film ''
Anandam'' in 2001, marking his first collaboration with director
Srinu Vaitla
Srinu Vaitla (born 24 September 1972) is an Indian film director and screenwriter known for his work in Telugu cinema, particularly in the action comedy genre. He has received several accolades, including five Nandi Awards—three for Nandi Aw ...
. He has written and sung the song "Premante Emitante" and lent his vocals for another song titled "Monalisa". ''
Idlebrain
Idlebrain.com is an Indian entertainment website dedicated to Telugu cinema. Established in 1999 by G. V. Ramana, popularly known as Jeevi, a graduate of BITS Pilani, the site is among the oldest websites on the Internet focused on Telugu fil ...
'' wrote, "music of the film is good though some of the tunes are inspired by 'back street boys' work. Background music is impressive. Devi Sri Prasad has got a chance to work with a fulltime love story, which has scope for good music". This is his first major successful film album. In the same year, he composed
film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...
for a Tamil film
''Badri''. This marks his debut in Tamil cinema.
2002–2005: Rise to prominence
In 2002, he had five album releases, including soundtrack albums of the films ''
Kalusukovalani,
Manmadhudu'' and ''
Sontham'' became the biggest chartbusters of the time. These films were critically and commercially successful, music composition by DSP also contributed to the films' successes. Films ''Sontham'' and ''Manmadhudu'' were regarded as musical hits of the year. Most of the songs in these albums were widely appreciated. A critic writing for ''Manmadhudu'' review, stated that "Music by Devi Sri Prasad is excellent. Even the background score is pretty good. The picturization of the songs has elevated the audio of Manmadhudu." The same year, Prasad composed music for a patriotic film ''
Khadgam''. Krishna Prasad Chigurupati of ''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'' wrote: " ‘Meme Indians’ composed by Devi Sri Prasad depicts the real attitude and unity among Indians with a hint of satire and humour." "Nuvvu Nuvvu" sung by Sumangali is another biggest hit of the album.
Although the film ''
Varsham'' was released in 2004, its soundtrack album was released on 18 December 2003 through
Aditya Music
Aditya Music India Private Limited is an Indian music record label company, which owns the label Aditya Music. It produces music for the Telugu cinema industry and is headquartered at Hyderabad, Telangana.
Overview
The company was founded b ...
at the film's audio launch event at
Annapurna Studios, Hyderabad. It is his second collaboration with producer
M. S. Raju, who introduced him to the film industry through ''
Devi
''Devī'' (; ) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is Deva (Hinduism), ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism.
The concept ...
'' in 1999. Prasad introduced his brother
Gandham Sagar debut into the music industry by "Neeti Mulla" song of the album. The film was a huge hit at the box office. The soundtrack fetched him three awards, those include
Santosham Best Music Director,
CineMAA Awards Best Music Director and
Filmfare Award for Best Music Director – Telugu. A critic described that he gave a perfect sound to the film and made a deep impact on the audiences with his soulful, melodious and romantic music. He continued his "romantic music" style in his next big hit ''
Arya'' (2004)''.'' Prasad made his first collaboration with
Sukumar, who his regular collaborator. The song "Aa Ante Amalapuram" enjoyed wide popularity in
Telugu states and other parts of India. The six-track is considered the best of all time by a critic of ''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
''. Another critic from ''IndiaGlitz'' cited: "The man who should walk away with all the kudos is musician Devi Sri Prasad. He is at his inspirational best in the songs and in re-recording he is soothing as a cool juice in summer heat. The songs Nuvvante, Takadhimithom (Allu Arjun's dance add more weight age), Feel MY Love among the six numbers in the film stand out."
The next year, he composed the album of Tamil remake of ''Varsham'' – ''
Mazhai.'' Prasad has eleven album releases in 2005 in both Telugu and Tamil, the highest number of releases in a single year till date. The soundtrack album of ''
Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana'' which was released on 21 December 2004, made DSP one of the most prolific musicians in India. For the first time in his music career, Prasad remixed the song "Prema Kosamai Volalo" sung by
Ghantasala for the 1951 film ''
Pathala Bhairavi''. A reviewer of ''
Idlebrain.com'' felt DSP had his best outcome. He cited that "The songs might not sound great when you listen on stereo. But they are entirely different when captured on the screen amid situations. Songs do stand out in the film as the best. The re-recording and background score are terrific. There is rhythm, merriment, emotions upsurge and passion that flows throughout these songs. Songs in this film are a part of story narration." He composed film score and soundtrack for the action films
''Bhadra'', ''
Bunny'' and ''
Aaru
Aaru (; , ), or the Field of Reeds (, ''sekhet-aaru''), is the name for heavenly paradise in Egyptian mythology. Ruled over by Osiris, an Egyptian god, the location has been described as the of the Nile Delta.
Ancient Egyptians believed th ...
,'' which received decent success. Prasad made his breakthrough in Tamil with the film ''
Sachein'', which became successful both commercially and critically. The songs "Vaadi Vaadi", "Dai Dai Dai Kattikkoda", "Kanmoodi Thirakumbothu" and "Gundu Manga Thoppukkulle" of the soundtrack became chartbusters upon its release.
2006–2009: ''Bommarillu, Jalsa''
His next releases in 2006 were all romantic films. Of these, coming-of-age film
''Bommarillu'' was the biggest hit. The music of the film received positive response from critics. "Appudo Ippudo", "Nammaka Thappani" and "Bommani Geesthe" became chartbusters of the year. A critic from ''IndiaGlitz'' stated: "Bommani Geesthe is a quaint and quite folksy start. Something that Devi Sri Prasad hardly ever tries in recent times. After you listen to this, you would want him to try something similar again and again. His instrumentation, especially the violin ensemble, is in one word superb. The violin rendition of the film's theme in between is very beautiful. A good one in the album." It became one of the most sold Telugu music albums of the year. A repository of Indian songs has recommended the feel-good soundtracks to the audiences. Prasad composed a classic traditional-style music album for ''
Pournami'' for the first time. The track "Bharata Vedamuga" helped DSP prove his classical talent as well. It was an evergreen chartbuster and is recognized as most fine works performed by Chitra, DSP, Sirivennala, and Charmi, as well. A critic writing an article titled 'Six best compositions of the music director' to ''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'' included soundtracks of the films ''Anandam,
Kalusukovalani,
Manmadhudu,
Varsham,
Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana'' and ''Arya.'' All these works made him to win further more accolades.
In 2007, four film were released with music composition by DSP. All the films were action comedy films and music by DSP got decent reviews from critics and audience. He made his second onscreen appearance alongside
Chiranjeevi in the song "Good Morning Hyderabad" of the film ''
Shankar Dada Zindabad'' directed by
Prabhu Deva
Prabhu Deva (born 3 April 1973) is an Indian dance choreographer, film director, producer and actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil language, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu language, Telugu language films also appeared in few Kannada and Malayal ...
. The film is a sequel to his previously composed film ''
Shankar Dada M.B.B.S.'' The next year Prasad made Kannada debut by composing score and soundtrack of the film ''
Sangama.'' ''
Jalsa'' directed by
Trivikram Srinivas, was the hit of the year. It was launched on 29 February 2008 with DSP as the music director, marking his first collaboration with
Trivikram Srinivas and
Pawan Kalyan
Konidela Pawan Kalyan (born Konidela Kalyan Kumar; 2 September 1971) is an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and martial artist serving as the List of deputy chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, 11th Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Prade ...
. "Gaallo Thelinattunde" and "My Heart is Beating" were chartbusters of the year in the soundtrack and was the highest selling Telugu album at the time of release. The audio rights were sold to Aditya Music for ₹ 9 million, the highest for any Telugu film at that point of time. A critic credited Prasad's muisic in the film as "peppy, youthful and incredibly fun filled." Prasad next composed
film score
A film score is original music written specifically to accompany a film. The score comprises a number of orchestral, instrumental, or choral pieces called cues, which are timed to begin and end at specific points during the film in order to ...
for the action-thriller film ''
Dasavathaaram'' starring
Kamal Haasan
Parthasarathy Srinivasan (born 7 November 1954), known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Considered as one of the most accomplished actors of Indian Cinema, Haas ...
and
Asin
Asin Thottumkal (born 26 October 1985), known mononyomusly as Asin, is an Indian former actress who appeared predominantly in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu language, Telugu films. Asin is a recipient of List of awards and nominations ...
, directed by
K. S. Ravikumar. The film is one of the top grossers in India of the year.
Himesh Reshammiya was first considered for the composition of film's score. Due to unavailability of his
daily call sheet
Daily call sheet is a filmmaking term for the schedule supervised by the assistant director and crafted by the assistant director, using the Film director, director's shot list, the production schedule and other logistics considerations. It is iss ...
s, Prasad was chosen to compose the
score of the film.
In 2009, he has five album releases. Prasad with his regular collaborator
Sukumar, collaborated for the film ''
Arya 2,'' which is
spiritual sequel to his previous film ''Arya'' (2004). He also composed for the film's dubbed versions in Hindi, Malayalam and Tamil. The tracks "Ringa Ringa", "Uppenantha Prema" and "My Love Is Gone" topped the music charts. Although the film received mixed reviews, the song "Ringa Ringa" received a cult status. He received various nominations for his work. The song's music was re-used by Prasad in the 2011 Hindi film
''Ready'' due to its popularity. The same year Prasad got a decent hit in Tamil with the film ''
Kanthaswamy''. Prasad made
Vikram to sing as many as four songs in the album. Pavithra Srinivasan of ''
Rediff.com'' cited that "''Kanthaswamy''
's music is not Devi Sri Prasad's best." The song "Excuse me, Mr. Kandasamy" been into a controversy after its release. Advocate V. Elango claimed that he had written five lines of the song. Finally, the controversy was over, after film's team won the case.
2010–2014: Continued success
2010 was a major year for DSP in Tamil. Both of his albums in Tamil, ''
Singam'' and ''
Manmadan Ambu'' received huge response from both audience and critics. Of these, the soundtrack album of ''Singam'' received good response. A critic of ''
Rediff.com'' wrote: "DSP has a reputation for sticking with his regulation format of tunes and here too, you can see it pop up at certain places but there's also a departure from the usual, mostly an influence of Haasan in both lyrics and music. Whatever the reason, the result is an album that provides you a treat. Go for it." Another critic praised Prasad's work and stated that "A westernized folk song, jazz, melodies, a poem and a kuthu...an album could not ask for more variety and DSP has delivered. The new experiments shows his maturity and his intention for being innovative." Prasad returned to his usual romantic-genre albums with
''100% Love'' and
''Mr. Perfect'' in 2011''.'' These were released under
Aditya Music
Aditya Music India Private Limited is an Indian music record label company, which owns the label Aditya Music. It produces music for the Telugu cinema industry and is headquartered at Hyderabad, Telangana.
Overview
The company was founded b ...
label. A critic wrote: "The duo, Sukumar – Devisri certainly knows the pulse of the urban youth and this album is yet another great attempt to grab the attention of the target audience. This ‘100% Love’ is 100% for the youth." Another critic cited that Devi Sri Prasad has excelled in the background score . A music reviewer felt about ''Mr. Perfect'' music album that DSP comes up with more soul stirring tunes and comes out of his stereotype beats and raps. Though there are those occasional flashes of brilliance, there is a repetitive mode seen in terms of the mixing and a constant background beat. Melody is missing in most of the songs and the focus is more on energy and peppy touch. ''
Oosaravelli'' was another film released in the same year. A critic cited it as "definitely not DSP's best work" By the time Devi Sri Prasad became highest-paid musician in Tollywood.
He has four album releases in 2012, two action films ''
Gabbar Singh'' and ''
Julayi,'' one fantasy film ''
Damarukam'' and a drama film ''
Sarocharu.'' The six-track album of
''Julai'' was released on 6 July 2002, which became a chartbuster. In the UK, the
BBC Asian Network
BBC Asian Network is a British digital radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station's target audience is people "with an interest in British Asian lifestyles", especially those between the ages of 18 and 34. The station has produc ...
radio station officially play listed the track "O Madhu" on 14 July 2012 marking it as the first Telugu song to be play listed there. He danced alongside
Allu Arjun in a song of the album. Prasad received various awards and nominations for his work in the film ''
Gabbar Singh.'' As the years pass, "Kevvu Keka" song received cult status. The song featuring
Malaika Arora has huge popularity. A critic wrote that "DSP keeps the acoustics at the right level, like a seasoned engineer." Cheruku Raja of ''India Herald'' cited DSP on ''Sarocharu'' music album that "DSP's magical tunes are missing to core in the audio of this film." Critics gave mixed reviews for DSP's 50th film ''Damarukam''. His composition of
score was praised, but ten-track album got mixed response, except for few romance-styled songs.
Music album of three film which were released in 2014, were released in late-2013 and early-2014. These include ''
Yevadu,'' ''
1: Nenokkadine'' and ''
Mirchi.'' All these film were successful with music composed by DSP was well appreciated. Karthik Pasupulate of ''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'' rated''Yevadu'' music 3/5 and stated: Music director Devi Sri Prasad has come up with an album that is high on beat and low on melody, but plays to the galleries unabashedly, blending multiple genres. Though there isn't one stand-out song, the album has an overriding happy vibe about it. The soundtrack album of Prasad's usual collaborator
Sukumar-directed action thriller film ''1: Nenokkadine'' was released at a promotional event at
Shilpakala Vedika in
Hyderabad
Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
. The event, watched by 14,500 people, was shown live in 24 theatres across
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
and
Telangana
Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...
and was the first Indian soundtrack release event shown live in theatres. His biggest hit of the year was
Attarintiki Daredi (soundtrack), released on 19 July 2013. Prasad once again re-mixed an old folk song, "Kaatama Rayudu", earlier used in the 1940 film ''
Sumangali'' whose tune was re-composed by
V. Nagayya and lyrics were re-written by Samudrala Raghavacharya. It was sung by
Pawan Kalyan
Konidela Pawan Kalyan (born Konidela Kalyan Kumar; 2 September 1971) is an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and martial artist serving as the List of deputy chief ministers of Andhra Pradesh, 11th Deputy Chief Minister of Andhra Prade ...
.
Prasad composed multi-genre songs in the album, a first in his career. A critic stated that "Attarintiki Daaredhi is that album which every Telugu film goer would expect from the hit combination of Pawan Kalyan, Devi Sri Prasad and Trivikram Srinivas. The album has melody, peppiness, and energizing factors which would definitely elevate the overall feel of the movie." He received further accolades for his music composition. The other two albums that performed well in the same year were ''
Iddarammayilatho'' and ''
Singam II.'' A critic of ''
The Times of India
''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...
'' cited "DSP gets a foot-tapping album in Singam 2, though it sounds uncomfortably very similar to ''Singam''." "Top Lechipoddi" from ''Iddarammayilatho'' was the biggest hit among the songs released that year It is one of the most streamed Telugu songs. In 2014, Prasad reclaimed success in Tamil with the film ''
Veeram.'' ''
Alludu Seenu'' was another successful album in the year. The soundtrack album had a record number of sales for which Aditya Music thanked Devi Sri Prasad and the film makers, one of the representatives from the company stated that "Devi Sri Prasad, who has given many super hit albums in his career, has provided beautiful songs for ''Alludu Seenu'' and it has been creating sensation regarding sales, from the day it was released."
2015–2018: ''Rangasthalam'' and versatility
2015 was a mixed-musical year for DSP. Because he received both positive and negative reviews from critics. ''
Kumari 21F'' and ''
Nenu Sailaja'' was regarded as "musical hits" of the year, although these films received a good response. A critic felt that the ''Kumari 21F'' album on the whole falls desperately short of the standards that one would expect from DSP. "Meghaalu Lekunna" was recorded using a live orchestra, which Nisar found "rare these days". ''123Telugu.com'' wrote about ''
Nenu Sailaja'' album that "DSP has provided some feel good music which will gel with the flow of the love story in this family entertainer. The lyricists did a splendid job of bringing emotions out of every song. Crazy feeling, Sailaja Sailaja, Em Cheppanu are pretty good and will go well with all sections." The film score and soundtrack of fantasy-adventure film ''
Puli'' was composed by collaborating with
Vijay for the third time after ''
Sachein'' (2005) and ''
Villu'' (2009). The film performed poorly at the box office and also got negative reviews. The film score was praised but the soundtrack was criticized. A critic stated: "Puli's music will need the grand visuals as it is programmed keeping in mind what's going to come onscreen." ''Indiaglitz's'' critic wrote that the album in all is racy but only in parts. the energy, which is typical of DSP seems to have dipped in his snoopiness for the choice of instruments, orchestrina of genres, and classic melodies. DSP was highly credited for composing music for ''
Srimanthudu'' and ''
S/O Satyamurthy'', two of the highest-grossing films of the year. He received various accolades for the composition of score and soundtrack and singing.
Prasad next collaborated with
Sukumar for the film ''
Nannaku Prematho'' in 2016 for the fifth time. After the death of Satyamurthy, Prasad's father, the album was dedicated to the former in an audio launch ceremony on 27 December 2015. Critics cited the album as "a fun album with ample dose of trendy as well as mass numbers with a tinge of experimentation", "It is not vintage DSP at his best" and "different album from the crazy combo." The same year he had another big release ''
Janatha Garage,'' which received good response from audience and critics. ''
Sardaar Gabbar Singh,'' an action comedy film didn't receive much praise. He remixed a popular song "Naa Koka Baagunda" from the Chiranjeevi-starrer ''
Kondaveeti Raja'' (1986) for this film. Devi had eight album releases in 2017, out of which ''
Khaidi No. 150'' and
''DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham'' were successful. Songs such as "Ammadu Let's Do Kummudu", "Ratthalu" and "
Seeti Maar" were the biggest hits from the two albums. A. Kameshwari of ''
The Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...
'' stated: "DJ-Duvvada Jaggannadham's jukebox stands up to all kinds of expectations Allu Arjun's fans must have had from the hit duo." ''
Jai Lava Kusa,'' is another film that received good response for music. A critic from ''
Firstpost
Firstpost is an Indian news website owned by Network18 Group, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC TV18. It has posted misinformation on multiple occasions.
The Network 18 group was originally owned by Raghav Bahl. In January 2012, the gro ...
'' wrote that "Devi Sri Prasad does a brilliant job at composing tracks for the ''Raavana''-inspired portrayal in the movie. In almost three songs, we have the theme screaming out. The album leaves us wishing for a romantic track, but on a deeper analysis of the album of ''Jai Lava Kusa'', it seems like this was a conscious choice by the makers to stick to the beats."
The year 2018 is one of the major ones for Prasad.
''Rangasthalam'' received wide recognition and praise from audience and critics. The album has some of the most popular Telugu songs such as "Rangamma Mangamma" and "
Jigelu Rani". The film is a periodical-styled, so Prasad's unusual folk-traditional-classic-style album received huge praise. A critic of ''
Firstpost
Firstpost is an Indian news website owned by Network18 Group, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC TV18. It has posted misinformation on multiple occasions.
The Network 18 group was originally owned by Raghav Bahl. In January 2012, the gro ...
'' wrote: "Every song on this album is tailor-made for the movie set in a village and captures rural essence at its best. The album is also an instant reminder of many Telugu shows like ''Rasamayi Daruvu''." Another critic cited Devi Sri Prasad as the other hero of ''Rangasthalam''. Priyanka Sundar of ''
Hindustan Times
''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...
'' stated that "In essence, Rangasthalam album is rustic." Prasad received various accolades for his work in the film. ''
Saamy²'' is his last Tamil film till now. The film is flagged as a
box-office bomb
A box-office bomb is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the combined production budget, marketing, and distribution costs exceed the revenue after release has te ...
. The other two releases ''
Bharat Ane Nenu'' and ''
Hello Guru Prema Kosame'' were also good musical hits, but received mixed reviews. Actor
Farhan Akhtar was made to sing "I Don't Know" in the album ''Bharat Ane Nenu''.
2019–present: Brief setback, ''Pushpa'' and recent work
In 2019, Prasad had four releases. All of them were decent hits. Suresh Kavirayani of ''
Deccan Chronicle
''Deccan Chronicle'' is an English-language daily newspaper based in Hyderabad, India. Founded in 1938, it was initially launched as a Weekly newspaper, weekly and later converted into a daily. The newspaper's name reflects its origins in the ...
'' stated that DSP's songs are the high points of the film ''
Chitralahari.'' Another critic writing for music review of ''
Maharshi,'' said that "OST of Maharshi is good for a one-time listen with most of the numbers sounding situational; they might work better when seen on-screen."
Score of ''
F2: Fun and Frustration'' received good praise. Prasad had only one release in 2020, i.e., ''
Sarileru Neekevvaru.'' He collaborated with director
Anil Ravipudi
Anil Ravipudi (born 23 November 1982) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Telugu cinema. He is best known for writing and directing action comedies. His directorial debut was the action comedy ''Pataas'' (2015) and won the S ...
after ''
F2: Fun and Frustration''. "Mind Block" and "He's So Cute" songs from the album got good response from audience. However, it received negative reviews from critics for his and quoted them as routine compositions. ''IndiaGlitz''
's reviewer wrote: "The album is not exactly DSP being on fire. But it surely has its big moments." Another critic of ''
Gulf News
''Gulf News'' is a daily English language newspaper published from Dubai, United Arab Emirates. First launched in 1978, it is distributed throughout the UAE and also in other Persian Gulf countries. Its online edition was launched in 1996. Thro ...
'' said that the music of the film not too great.
After a brief setback, he reclaimed success through the soundtrack album and score of the film ''
Uppena'' (2021). The film is regarded as a "musical hit" Most of the songs in the soundtrack were successful. "Nee Kannu Neeli Samudram" and "Jala Jala Jalapaatham Nuvvu" were the biggest hits of the album and also been in the top spots in the national music charts. A critic wrote: "One of the biggest plus points of the film is Devi Sri Prasad's splendid music. It holds the narration in a big way. Every song is superbly composed and shot well." Jeevi of ''
Idlebrain.com'' stated that "Devi Sri Prasad deserves a huge pat for his outstanding music for the songs in this film." The same year,
''Pushpa: The Rise'' was released. The soundtrack featured five tracks titled "Daakko Daakko Meka", "
Srivalli", "Oo Antava Oo Oo Antava", "Saami Saami" and "Eyy Bidda Idhi Naa Adda". The soundtrack experienced large amounts of commercial success, with the music being one of the major reasons for the success of the film ''
Pushpa: The Rise''.
Prasad got widespread recognition and received his first
National Film Award
The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...
alongside many other accolades.
Despite the success from ''Pushpa: The Rise'', Prasad's consecutive works such as ''
Rowdy Boys'' (2022), ''
Khiladi'' (2022), ''
Drishyam 2'' (2022), ''
Waltair Veerayya'' (2023) and ''
Rathnam'' (2024) didn't perform well. Although some of the films were commercially successful at the box-office, the songs and music didn't perform performed and average reception from critics.
Playback singing and songwriting
Prasad is also a noted playback singer. He has sung 66 songs in a span of 20 years in Telugu, Tamil and Hindi languages. He sung mostly in his own compositions. He lent his vocals for the first time in 2000 for the song "Vechavechaga" which was written by him for the film album
''Vamsi'', composed by
Mani Sharma. The next year he sang four songs, two Telugu and two Tamil. The same year, Devi made his debut in Kollywood and Tamil music by lending his vocals for two songs "Angel Vandhaale" and "King of Chennai" from the film album
''Badri'', composed by Ramana Gogula.
Film songs such as "Tellarindoi", "Kanthasamy", "Rakhi Rakhi", "Mr. Perfect", "A square B square", "Ninnu Chudagane", "Super Machi", "Singam", "Nannaku Prematho", "Ammadu Let's Do Kummudu" and "Yentha Sakkagunnave" are his popular ones. Few of them were written by himself. DSP sang a devotional song in the 2006 film ''
Sri Ramadasu,'' composed by
M. M. Keeravani. He collaborated with actress
Swathi Reddy for the song "A square B square" in the 2011 film
''100% Love''. He dedicated the song "Nannaku Prematho" for his late father. He performed the song along with his brother
Sagar.
Prasad sang a Hindi song "Daddy Mummy" for the 2015 film ''
Bhaag Johnny.'' It was re-composed by himself from his previous song "Akalesthey" from ''
Shankar Dada Zindabad.'' Prasad re-composed and re-mixed many of his own songs in other languages in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi. The last one to be re-composed and re-mixed is "
Seeti Maar", for the 2021 Hindi film
''Radhe'', from the 2017 soundtrack album ''
DJ: Duvvada Jagannadham''. He also sang a Kannada song "Dil Maange More" from his own composed film ''
Sangama.''
DSP had written over 25 songs in Telugu and Tamil. Most of these songs were either sung by him or composed by him.
Other work
Devi Sri Prasad made his first live performance outside India on 26 July 2008, at
Chicago
Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, U.S. He announced his first
concert tour
A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...
on 14 June 2014. The next day, at a private event, he announced that the concert will be held from 4 July 2014 to 2 August 2014 across various cities of the United States and Canada. The concert featured music performances of
Sagar,
Neha Bhasin,
Rita Thyagarajan,
Ranina Reddy,
Malathy Lakshman
Malathi Lakshman, also known as Malathy Lakshman, is a renowned Indian playback singer predominantly active in the Telugu and Tamil film industries.
Early life
Born on 27 August 1973, Malathi's career in music spans several decades, during ...
and
Sooraj Santhosh and few dance performances by several local American artists. It was concluded on 2 August 2014 at
Prudential Center
Prudential Center is a multipurpose indoor arena in the central business district of Newark, New Jersey, United States. Opened in 2007, it is the home of the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL), the New York Sirens of the Pro ...
,
New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
.
Since then, Prasad performed at various concerts across the world, especially in the United States. His 2016 concert tour in the U.S. received wide response and was telecasted on
Zee Telugu. Devi Sri Prasad made a music tribute in 2014, to the legendary singer
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
on his birth anniversary with a special track from his album ''
Jalsa.''
Devi Sri Prasad was supposed to make his acting debut. In 2019, it is reported that
Sukumar will be writing the story, produced by
Dil Raju. But as of now, there is no official announcement due to few production issues. Devi made his television debut as a judge in 2021 with the Tamil reality-singing show
''Rockstar'', which premiered on
Zee Tamil
Zee Tamil is an Indian Tamil language pay television general entertainment channel owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises. The channel started broadcasting on 2008 and is available internationally. The channel broadcasts from Guindy, Chennai, ...
on 28 March 2021. Although, DSP appeared in various other shows in Telugu and Tamil languages, this is his first major one
s a judge In 2015, he choreographed the music video of the song "Bang Bang Bangkok" from his soundtrack film album ''
Kumari 21F.'' Additionally, Devi Prasad choreographed a song in the 2015 film ''Kumari 21F''.
Music style and impact
Devi Sri Prasad is known for composing iconic
item number
In Indian cinema, an item number or special song is a musical number inserted into a film that may or may not have any relevance to the plot. The term is commonly used within Indian films ( Bengali, Hindi, Kannada, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu c ...
s in Telugu films. Since the 2000s, production of item numbers seen a steady rise, of them, Devi has composed majority. "
Jigelu Rani", "Aa Ante Amalapuram", "Kevvu Keka", "Aakalesthe Annam Pedatha" and "Oo Antava Oo Oo Antava" are some of his popular compositions. Due to their popularity, he is referred as "king of item numbers" and most of his re-mixed songs in Tamil and Hindi, were item numbers. He collaborated with director
Sukumar for nine times.
Besides item numbers, his music style is characterized as
romantic melody,
pop rock
Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...
,
hard rock
Hard rock or heavy rock is a heavier subgenre of rock music typified by aggressive vocals and Distortion (music), distorted electric guitars. Hard rock began in the mid-1960s with the Garage rock, garage, Psychedelic rock, psychedelic and blues ...
and
folk. Priyanka Sundar of ''
The Indian Express
''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...
'' listed "Mellaga Karagani", "Ghal Ghal", "Violin Song" and "
Gudilo Badilo Madilo Vodilo" in her article ''Five songs by DSP that has redefined romance in Tollywood.'' Devi is the first music director to initiate in putting up names of background singers in his albums.
Devi frequently admits that
Ilaiyaraaja
Ilaiyaraaja (born R. Gnanathesikan) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and playback singer popular for his works in Indian cinema, predominately in Tamil cinema, Tamil in addition ...
's music and
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
's style of performance are his biggest influences.
Media image
Due to his energetic music beats and energetic stage performances, Devi Sri Prasad is dubbed as the "Rockstar" or "Rockstar DSP" in the media. Devi was honored from the U.S. state of
Illinois
Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...
, where the
governor
A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...
Pat Quinn declared 26 July 2014 as "Devi Sri Prasad Day", while he was performing at
Now Arena, Illinois, as part of his international debut
concert tour
A concert tour (or simply tour) is a series of concerts by an artist or group of artists in different cities, countries or locations. Often, concert tours are named to differentiate different tours by the same artist and to associate a specific ...
. He is the highest-paid Telugu musician.
Discography
Filmography
Film
Television
Awards and nominations
Notes
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Prasad, Devi Sri
Living people
Telugu film score composers
Hindi film score composers
Tamil film score composers
Kannada film score composers
Telugu playback singers
Kannada playback singers
Filmfare Awards South winners
Film musicians from Andhra Pradesh
21st-century Indian composers
Indian folk-pop singers
1979 births
Nandi Award winners
Santosham Film Awards winners
South Indian International Movie Awards winners
Zee Cine Awards Telugu winners
Best Music Direction National Film Award winners
People from Konaseema district
Singers from Andhra Pradesh
Indian lyricists
Telugu-language lyricists
IIFA Utsavam winners