CHENNAI — Deva, the Tamil film composer whose scores for Rajinikanth's Annamalai, Baashha and Arunachalam defined a decade of South Indian cinema, died in Chennai on Saturday morning after a cardiac arrest. He was 75.

The composer complained of chest pain and was taken to Surya Hospital in the Kodambakkam district at about 8:30 a.m., but doctors could not revive him, Gulf News and Kerala Kaumudi reported. His son, the composer Srikanth Deva, told reporters that his father had suffered a cardiac arrest, according to India.com.

Deva's death removes one of the last of the composers who dominated Tamil film music in the 1990s, a period in which he was credited with more than 400 soundtracks across Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam cinema. In 1996 alone he scored 36 films.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, the former actor who leads the Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam party, visited the family and announced that the funeral would be held with full state honours, India.com reported, citing a post from the chief minister's office. Former chief minister M.K. Stalin of the DMK and the AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami also paid their respects at the composer's home in T. Nagar, according to Asianet News.

Rajinikanth, whose on-screen introductions were for years accompanied by Deva's title-card music, visited the house on Saturday and later recorded a video message in which he described the composer as honest and generous, Gulf News reported. He recalled that when he chose A.R. Rahman over Deva for his 1999 film Padaiyappa, Deva accepted the decision with warmth, and that in their last meetings Deva had spoken about live concerts and his hope to live another 10 to 15 years.

Born Devanesan Chokkalingam in the Mylapore neighbourhood of Chennai on Nov. 20, 1950, Deva taught himself the harmonium while working in Tamil theatre and formed a troupe with the composer Chandrabose in 1973. The veteran composer M.S. Viswanathan gave him the title "Thenisai Thendral," or breeze of sweet music, in 1985, a year before his first film score for Maattukara Mannaru.

His breakthrough came with Annamalai in 1992 and then Baashha in 1995, two Rajinikanth hits whose themes remain among the most recognisable in Indian popular music. The song Naan Autokaaran from Baashha became an anthem for auto-rickshaw drivers across the state, Gulf News noted. Other hits followed with Aasai, Kadhal Kottai, Nerrukku Ner, Vaalee and Kushi, and he scored Kamal Haasan's Avvai Shanmugi and Panchathanthiram.

Deva's lasting innovation was to carry gaana, the fast, colloquial street music of North Chennai's working-class neighbourhoods, into mainstream film soundtracks. He said he adopted the style to escape the shadow of his predecessor Ilaiyaraaja. "I was the 28th music director who got introduced to the film industry," he said at a promotional event for the film Meesaya Murukku 2, quoted by Gulf News. "It was under these circumstances that I wanted an identity for myself and therefore brought the gaana songs."

He won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award for best music director three times, in 1990, 1995 and 2000, received the state's Kalaimamani honour in 1992 and took a Filmfare Award for the Kannada film Amrutha Varshini.

Colleagues who gathered at the house on Saturday spoke as much about his character as his music. The producer and actor Chitra Lakshmanan told reporters Deva was "a true gem as a person, just as Rajinikanth mentioned," adding: "A hundred music composers like Deva might come and go. But you won't find a good person like him," according to the news agency ANI.

The producer T. Siva said Deva had worked for small producers at fees they could afford even at the height of Rajinikanth's popularity. "Even after delivering massive hits, when a Rajinikanth sir movie like 'Baashha' was finished and released, he wouldn't ask for a special, separate salary for it," Siva told ANI.

M.A. Subramanian, a former state minister and senior DMK figure, said: "The sorrow of not having him with us today weighs heavily on everyone's heart," ANI reported.

Deva is survived by his wife, his son Srikanth Deva and two daughters, according to The Federal. His younger brothers Sabesh and Murali work as a composing duo, and his nephew Jai is an actor.

His last rites are to be performed at Chakkaramallur with state honours, Asianet News reported, citing ANI.