# Devesh Ranjan

Devesh Ranjan is an Indian trained actor, casting associate and producer who predominantly works in Hindi, Odia, theatre and short films.

## Early life

Devesh Ranjan was born in a small village called Jarda of Kendujhar district in the east Indian state of Odisha. His father worked as a commissioner in Odisha Board of Revenue. Mumbai based famous painter Ratnakar Ojha is his uncle. He did his graduation in B.Com from Vyasanagar College. After graduation, Devesh gravitated towards fulfilling his childhood dream to pursue career in acting. He went to Delhi by giving a false promise to his family that, he was going to pursue a career in Company Secretary, instead he joined doing theatre there. Later his father made him join in company secretary course but after sometime he discontinued and later joined for a Diploma of acting course in Mandi School of Drama of Himachal Pradesh. He is also trained in Mayurbhanj form of Chhau dance under chhau exponent Sadashiv Pradhan. He spent many years doing theater in Delhi with renowned directors like Robin Das, MK Sharma and BV Karanth where he gained extensive experience. Devesh attributes his success to famous casting director Dilip Shankar, the casting director of Life of Pi, as his mentor and guru who trusted his talent and provided him much needed exposure.

## Career

In his initial days of struggle, Devesh used to offer tuitions to students to find out a living in Delhi. Those days, he found it really difficult to speak Hindi promptly. So, he started buying Hindi magazines to learn the grammar and master it. After his diploma in acting course, he finally moved to Mumbai to try his luck in films. For a decade, he refused to do small roles in tele serials. He preferred to work either as a model, a voice over artist or as a casting director with some production houses. He got offers to play the lead in TV serials and supporting roles in films. But things didn’t materialise as either they rejected him for his dark complexion or he refused the offers because of the roles. When he failed to make a mark in the film world, Devesh went back to Odisha. It was then that he got a call to play the lead role in the English language feature film Vara: A Blessing, an international project directed by Bhutanese director Khyentse Norbu of The Cup (1999 film) fame, which marked his debut as a lead actor opposite Shahana Goswami. The movie was shown at the opening of the 18th Busan International Film Festival. Vara went on to win several international awards, including the best online feature award at the Tribeca Film Festival.
In 2017, Devesh also played a supporting role alongside Adil Hussain, Tisca Chopra and Rasika Dugal in the popular short film Chutney. In 2018, he starred in Hindi film Bhor. It is a story of struggle for education and basic sanitation in a small tribal community of Musahars in Bihar. Bhor has been selected for the Panorama section at the 49th International Film Festival of India. He has also tried his luck in the field of production with his 2022 film Joothan. In 2024, he debuted in Odia film, Jajabara 2.0 as the protagonist Jagat Panda. Apart from acting, Devesh is also a known casting director, who has cast actors for various films and web series.

## Filmography
### Films

Key :
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
| 2013 | Vara: A Blessing | Shyam | |
| 2016 | Chutney | Vicky | Short Film |
| 2018 | Bhor: Dawn | Sugan | |
| 2022 | Joothan | Santosh | |
| 2022 | Freedom Fighter | Boyfriend | Short Film |
| 2023 | Trial by Fire | Javed (episode 1) | TV mini series |
| 2023 | Sita | | Short Film |
| 2023 | Behrupiya - The Impersonator | Behrupiya | Short Film |
| 2024 | Jajabara 2.0 | Jagat Panda | Odia Film |

### Casting director

* Angry Indian Goddesses (2015)
* In The Shadows (2017)
* Axone (2019)
* A Suitable Boy (TV series) (2020)

### Producer

* Joothan (2022)