It is said that your debut determines the course of your career.
If you watched Devi in 1999, you’d never guess that the young lad who gave music for the film would grow up to be one of the biggest names in Telugu cinema music.
Born in East Godavari district, to a teacher and writer, Devi Sri Prasad began his career on an unusual note. He has trained under Mandolin Srinivas for ten years, and began a career in music very early in life. His first release was an album, and he had to climb the ladder slowly
Here’s what makes DSP stand out from the rest:
Trendy and Energetic Music with Great Collaborations
From the time he came with the album for Anandam, he conveyed his soul from the kind of music he started to compose. Apart from SPB, Chitra and Karthik who sang some great songs, DSP has tried to bring in some great voices to telugu. Clinton Cerejo, Kunal Ganjawala, Apache Indian, Suraj Jagan, KK, Neha Bhasin and of course Baba Sehgal are some of them who brought in great energy into his music. DSP believed in bringing in fresh voices. For what Baba Sehgal is doing now, credit must be given to DSP’s Jalsa.
Among the other singers of his, Sumangali seemed his favourite but isn’t heard now much. Devi’s melodies were best heard in her voice.
A Stage Performer
Before DSP, music directors adopted a very sane image on stage – they spoke for a while, were humble, sang a few songs, and left. DSP changed all that.
He takes his live shows as seriously as his film work, and is called ‘Rockstar DSP’. The only music director who is so active and pumped up on stage with his performance. We all know what a stage performer he is. So, I will leave to you to notice it you.
His Social Interaction
We may not see his daily interactions, but with those few here and there bits we get to see of his association with the people from industry definitely shows what a sweetheart he would be. As it is, in Telugu, we don’t see many of our bada people doing anything on stage except sitting in those red chairs and talking when their turn comes out, Devi brings in this fun element which probably even they would be surprised.
His Catchy Item Songs
If you ask me who took the trend of item songs to another level nationwide, I would say, it was DSP.
Yes! His Aa ante Amalapuram from Arya followed by Ringa Ringa in Arya2 till Kevvu Keva in Gabbar Singh, all the itmes songs belonged to only him. Though we all listen to various genres of music all through our day, once in a month we come across that moment when we are drunk and lost somewhere in bliss, waiting to dance to glory and a friend says… ‘Arey, ringa ringa pettu ra’. For people who don’t reach that state, may be this is one of the many things you missed!
A Hidden Lyricist
DSP may not be the guy who pens deep lyrics about the ocean waves and the heartbeat. But, the same he could convey with some avakai or a tella kaagitham. Listen to his Udayinchina Suryudini adiga from Kalusukovalani for example or Pilla from Gabbar Singh. Using simple words and metaphors, DSP conveys what a traditional lyricist conveys using heavy-duty literary adjectives.
Not a run of the mill music director
In spite of being the biggest name among music directors today, DSP hasn’t crossed 50 films. This shows how choosy he is about projects.
Just because he sings, he never dons the singing list of his own albums unless it suits him, unlike those who have done it earlier to him. He has studied them, he knows it!
His Attire
Many may not agree with me on this. He may not dress as cool as the other actors, though there are handful. But, Devi carries an image for himself with that head band and mostly a cool jacket apart from those sharp, long side burns.
Devi knows that in India, music is always associated with cinema, so picking every movie and exhausting yourself is not going to help. Rather sit back and give your best for the few movies you pick. The movie’s subject has always been the key element we find in his album. He doesn’t want to steal your attention from the great scripts. At the same time, his music also doesn’t divert you from the subject. He just gets you more involved into the movie you are watching. That is what scoring for a movie needs to be!!
