Gorthi Devi Sri Prasad (2 August 1979), also known by his initials DSP, is an Indian music composer, singer, and lyricist primarily known for his work in Telugu cinema, along with Tamil and Hindi cinema. He has received numerous accolades, including a National Film Award, a Nandi Award, eleven Filmfare Awards, eight 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 on 2 August 1979 in a Telugu family in Vedurupaka, East Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh. His father, G. Satyamurthy, was a screenwriter in Telugu cinema, 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. His younger brother Sagar is a playback singer, lyricist and dialogue writer.
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. He has written and sung the song "Premante Emitante" and lent his vocals for another song titled "Monalisa". Idlebrain 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 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 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 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 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. 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, 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 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. 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. "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 music in the film as "peppy, youthful and incredibly fun filled." Prasad next composed film score for the action-thriller film Dasavathaaram starring Kamal Haasan and Asin, 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 sheets, 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 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.