Chennai, Oct 17 (IANS) Tamil Superstar Rajinikanth on Saturday paid glowing tributes to late music director Deva, saying that he was a man without lies or deceit and that he was "a person of pure gold".

Rajinikanth, who visited the residence of the late music director to pay homage to Deva, put out a video clip soon after in which he paid rich tribute to the much liked music director.

In his video, Rajinikanth said, "The sudden demise of my dear friend, music director Deva, is both shocking and sorrowful. He has scored music for three of my films --'Annamalai', 'Baasha' and 'Arunachalam'. All three films were very big successes."

Rajinikanth then went on to say, "When my friends insisted on opting for A R Rahman while making 'Padaiyappa', I went to Deva and told him that I was opting for A R Rahman, he stood up, held my hand and said, 'Please, by all means, do so.' I told Deva that I did not want him to mistake me. He replied, 'I am saying this with happiness, please go ahead. That boy (A R Rahman) is coming up well. Please do well. I am very happy. It is my good fortune that I have done three films with you.'"

Citing this instance, Rajinikanth said, "Deva was a person of pure gold who was without lies or deceit. He has struggled a lot in life. He had four younger brothers and used to perform in concerts and at weddings to take care of them. Even after he became a star in the film industry, he did not let go of his brothers and kept them with himself. He was such a wonderful family man and a good human being."

The Superstar observed, "Even when Ilaiyaraaja was ruling the roost, Deva created a style for himself and succeeded big time."

Recalling that when Deva visited him two-and-a-half years ago, he had said, "Everyone is doing concerts. I too would like to do concerts. You must come and inaugurate my concert," Rajinikanth recalled, "I very happily went and participated in that event."

"Deva then did concerts abroad and was very successful. He came after going on a tour to meet me. Three months ago, he came after going to either Canada or Australia and said, 'I am very happy. Youngsters are welcoming me so happily. I am feeling so happy Rajini sir. With this happiness, I will live for another 10 to 15 years,'" Rajinikanth recalled.

The actor said, "Maybe God thought Deva was a very nice person and that he should come to him when he was happy itself and therefore called Deva to him. May his soul rest in peace. My deepest condolences to his family members."

For the unaware, Chennai, well known Tamil music director Deva, who has scored music for over 400 films in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada, passed away at a private hospital here on Saturday.

--IANS

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