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Life is on a roll

Photo: Nagara Gopal

A new tune Devi Sri Prasad’s music sparkles for its variety

Devi Sri is rehearsing to get his steps right. “The show is live and he cannot go wrong with his dance. Can we reschedule the interview to evening?” a request comes with a string of apologies.

Youthful numbers and haunting melodies to folksy soundtracks. From directors like Prabhu Deva and K. Vijay Bhaskar to Susi Ganesan and Sukumar. A clutch of awards and more. At 28, Devi Sri prides in the power of plenty. “I do not intend to make super hit songs. I have fun while creating tunes and it shows in my songs,” Devi Sri says as he grabs a quick bite in the evening.

He is chatty, friendly and easy to talk with. It’s hard not to be upbeat when you have successful films under your belt.

Are there moments when he wants to be free of the burden of expectation? “Not really,” he quips. “Arya was a musical blockbuster. I cannot create tunes for Arya 2 keeping that point in mind. I enjoy while I make music and if the songs join the hit league, I am happy and I move on. I do not cling to the success nor feel disappointed at failures,” he says.

Devi Sri is a decade old in the industry and began his career when he was just a teenager. “When boys of my age played around, I was going zhing chik cha,” he laughs tapping his fingers. Turning towards his friend Suresh, he says, “You remember ‘da’ my favourite activity after school was to just create new compositions.” People have envied him for being young and successful in an industry when many are still trying to get a foothold. “I struggled a lot to make my voice heard and now I am in a position to call the shots. My critics would have done better if they stopped commenting and introspected as to what was wrong with them,” he says.

Devi Sri’s talent was discovered when he sang for one of the inter-school competitions in Chennai.

Going on a rewind mode, he says, “At a cultural show the organisers refused to give me permission to perform as it was my own number. After much pleading, I went on to the stage only to discover that it was lunch break and there was hardly any crowd among the audience. I sang my heart out and the song pulled the crowd back to the room. There were cheers of ‘once more’ all around and one group even lifted me from the stage and made me sing the ‘pallavi’ again without music. It was an exhilarating experience.”

Having composed 40 films in Telugu, Tamil and Kannada, Devi Sri’s music sparkles for its variety.

“There have been instances when the films did not do well but the songs became popular. Like the movies Jagadam and Sontham, which did not fare well at the box office but the songs turned out to be hits,” he says.

His straight-from-the-heart numbers create an eclectic atmosphere with cheers of open palms pumping in the air. “I want to sing and dance and be a performer. You have to be charged to make your audience charged. If I am on a dance floor, I am dancing not to my songs but the popular numbers of Harris Jayaraj or Mani Sharma. You have to be a music lover to create good music,” he says.

Devi Sri misses out on holidaying with friends (“This year I have not been able to take even a day off”) or going to theatres to watch his favourite actresses Simran and Amisha Patel’s movies.

“Oh, you should see me while watching a movie in a theatre. I just go mad if Simran appears on the screen. I stand on a chair, whistle and make all the noise,” he says. He values his success and also the people who gave him break in their films. What about the rumours floating in the tinsel town about his affairs? “I am a straight talker and a very friendly guy. I am friends with everybody and people make their own assumptions out of these friendships,” he says with a laugh.

The buzz in this singing star’s life is that he plans to make a debut in films. “There have been offers for long now and people around me have been pressurising me to take the offers. Vaana was offered to me and Ashta Chamma was also narrated to me.

I did not think it was the right choice. There were plans to make Rock On in Telugu.

I love the movie so much that I did not want to copy it. I want do something different, original in a Devi Sri style,” he says.

Has anything been finalised? “I do not want to reveal more as the script has not been finalised yet,” he quips.

Finally, how do you make Devi Sri stand still (considering that he doesn’t stand still even for a second except for a photo-shoot)?

“That’s very challenging and my mother has not been able to do it. However, make a pretty woman walk in front of me and I will freeze for a minute and then sing a beautiful romantic song for her,” he says with a wink.

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