Dev (Bengali actor)

Deepak Adhikari(born 25 December 1982), known by hisstage nameDev, is an Indian actor, producer, singer and screenwriter, known for his works inBengali cinemaand more recently, apolitician.He is also aMember of Parliamentin theLok SabharepresentingGhatal (Lok Sabha constituency)since 2014, as a candidate from theAll India Trinamool Congressparty. He owns the production houseDev Entertainment Ventures.
Born inKeshpur, he made his acting debut in the 2006 filmAgnishapathoppositeRachna Banerjee. Dev faced flak after the film was released, and it turned out to be a critical and commercialflop. His starring role inI Love You(2007) oppositePayal Sarkarwas his breakthrough. Directed byRavi Kinagi, the film was critically unsuccessful, but was commercially successful and was quick to resurrect his career. Despite the success, Dev did not get any work for the next fourteen months.
He made a comeback on the silver screen withPremer Kahini(2008), oppositeKoel Mallick, his first with whom he went on to star with in numerous films. A remake of the 2006KannadahitMungaru Male, the film was moderately successful. Dev got another breakthrough inChallenge(2009) which opened to critical and commercial success. He received theAnandalok Awardsfor Best Actor and Best Action Hero for his performance in the film.
He continued to gain commercial success and wider attention through his successful films, includingLe Chakka(2010),Dui Prithibi(2010),Paglu(2011),Challenge 2(2012),Khoka 420(2013),Rangbaaz(2013),Chander Pahar(2013),Zulfiqar(2016) andAmazon Obhijaan(2017).Amazon Obhijaanwent on to become thehighest-grossing Bengali filmof all time. Post its success, he has starred in a number of critically and commercially successful ventures likeTonic(2021),Projapoti(2022),Bagha Jatin(2023),Pradhan(2023) and many others.
He had been a recipient ofnumerous awards, namely Tele Cine Awards, Kalakar Awards,Filmfare Awards East(2017) and NABC International Bangla Film Award 2017. His accomplishments have made him one of the highest paid and sought out actors ofBengali cinema. Though he has delivered some critically acclaimed performances, Dev is often trolled for his poor accent and average acting skills.
Dev had also been a mentor on the Bengali dance reality showDance Bangla Dance, replacingMithun Chakraborty.In 2014, theGovernment of West Bengalconferred him theMahanayak SammanAward.
Dev was born on 25 December 1982, in Mahisha, a small village nearKeshpur, to Gurudas Adhikari and Mousumi Adhikari. His father used to have a food-catering service and his mother is a housewife. His nickname is Raju. He spent his childhood living with his maternal uncle inChandrakonaand his sister, Deepali. Later in his childhood, he moved toMumbaiand attended Purushottam High School inBandra, where he was a good student. His sister, Deepali Adhikari, was married on 9 August 2015 to Anirban.
He also did an acting course at the Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Academy.In an interview withThe Times of India, Dev recalled that when his school was closed for summer, he went to the outdoors ofPrahaar: The Final Attackwith his father, whereNana Patekarwas shooting. He described it as more of a family vacation for them and work did not feel like work. As a child, that was the first time he got a taste of cinema. Though that was his first, life continued to be the same for the next couple of years. The family was based inMumbaiand Dev would often accompany his father to the sets of Abbas–Mustan and Prakash Jha, among several others. There were times when his father would keep busy with other things and he had to chip in. Though he could not cook, he would do the groceries and supervise on his father's behalf. He also said there were times when he washed plates and served food. After receiving hisDiplomafrom BV Jawaharlal Nehru Institute Of Technology (Bharati Vidyapeeth) inPune, inComputer Engineering, Dev returned toMumbaiand started his film career as an observer on the set ofAbbas–Mustan'sTaarzan: The Wonder Car.
Dev is in a relationship with fellow actressRukmini Maitra.
Dev made his acting debut with the 2005 filmAgnishapath, directed by Prabir Nandi, oppositeRachana Banerjee. The film did not perform well at the box office. By this point, the filmI Love You, directed byRavi Kinnagi, was in development atShree Venkatesh Films. Dev met with the producers and gained the male lead role.Despite the financial success ofI Love You, Dev did not take on any other roles for about 14 months. He went toMumbai, and, dedicated to improving himself, learned dance and trained under fight choreographer Aejaz Gulab (ofShootout at LokhandwalaandMission Istaanbulfame).
Dev made a comeback to acting in directorRaj Chakraborty's action-romanceChallenge, oppositeSubhashree Ganguly.The film was a huge hit in West Bengal, giving Dev a considerable popularity boost.
Dev performeditem songslike "Pante Tali," andChirodini Tumi Je Amar. The tracks and videos were very successful. He also performed an additional item number in the filmJackpot, directed byKaushik Ganguly.The song was a remake of "Jibone ki Pabona," a track originally performed by Bengali actorSoumitra Chatterjee. Dev appeared as acameoinEkti Tarar Khonjedirected byAbhik Mukhopadhyay.
In December 2010, Indian romanticBengali filmShedin Dekha Hoyechilostarring Dev andSrabanti Chatterjeewas released, directed by Sujit Mondol and produced byShree Venkatesh Films. This is the second collaboration between Dev and Sujit Mondol. This movie was one of the biggest hits of 2010. The title track of the movie, being shot in Switzerland, is one of the best romantic songs of Tollywood ever. The chemistry between Dev and Srabanti is so mellifluous that it added a new flavour, which was tremendously appreciated by the audience and critics. The film had an item number by Samidh and Rishi "Khokababu jaye, Lal juto paye", which was the entry song for Dev in the movie. The song's choreographer Baba Yadav said: "Dev has done a great job. There's no doubt that he is an amazing dancer...What I like about Dev is the fact that he enjoys dancing. This shows in his movements.""Khokababu jaye, Lal juto paye" was the costliest song of Tollywood (costing nearly 50-60 million)until the release ofKhokababuin January 2012, which contained the costlier item number, "Dance maare Khokababu".
In 2010, Dev received theSTAR AnandaShera notun Protibha Award, at the 2010 Shera Bangali Awards.
In June 2011, Dev starred alongsideKoel MallickinPaglu, directed by Rajib Biswas. Produced bySurinder Films, this movie was the highest opener in Tollywood history beforeChallenge 2was released in October 2012.Pagluis highest in terms of earning T.R.P on Bengali television till date, having a T.R.P of 12.25 when it was telecast on Star Jalsha. It even left3 Idiotsbehind in the T.R.P. battle.As perSree Venkateshdistribution head, Debasis Sarkar – "Paglu released in 166 theatres across Bengal in the first week. The second week has seen the number of theatres rising to 169. The movie is running in 17 theatres in Kolkata. The gross collections till Monday's (13 June) matinee show have crossed Rs 50 million."The film was a box-office success.This film also introduced martial art in Bengali cinema and Dev as the first martial art hero. The director said – " Dev was superb with the action sequences. He did some martial art stunts and also learnt kickboxing for two months only for my movie. I was amazed with his dedication. Bengali films haven't ever seen such action sequences before. There is a train and a bike chase sequence that was shot by Zoyeb and Dev. I was literally scared when they were shooting this sequence without any body double. Hats off to their courage".In November 2011, his movieRomeo, directed by Sujit Mondol and co-starringSubhashree Gangulywas releasedwas released and earned Dev commendations from all sections of audience and from critics. The movie also saw Dev-Subhashree, the most talked about jodi (pair) ofTollywoodand that too after two years.In December, a biography of Dev entitledAami Dev, was released by Greymind Publications.
In January 2012, Dev starred inKhokababu, the 2nd highest-grossingTollywoodfilm, once again opposite Subhashree Ganguly. The film, directed by Shankar Aiyya and produced by Ashok Dhanuka Himanshu Dhanuka ofEskay Movies, is the longest running movie of 2012, remaining in theatre for more than 300 days.The film had an item number "Dance Maare Khokababu" which was the costliest song ofTollywoodtillChallenge 2released in October 2012, whose title track "Challenge nibi na sala" broke the record to become the costliest song till now made inTollywood.In 2013, he starred inKhoka 420,RangbaazandChander Pahar. Though the former two films were commercial hits, withKhoka 420andRangbazzearning₹8,000,000 and₹9,000,000 respectively, the latter gave him a slight decree of critical success. Made on a budget of₹15,000,000 and shot inSouth Africa, the film met with critical and commercial success upon release. Dola Mitra ofOutlook (magazine)reviewed: "Dev charms as Shankar Choudhury, the young Bengali village boy who dreads clerkdom and wangles a job as station master of a tiny train station in Uganda, where only one train stops in a day." Besides many awards, Dev won the Kalakar Awards for his performance in the film and aFilmfare Awards Eastnomination. After appearing in two films, one where he gave a special appearance and another critically and commercially unsuccessful film, he gave another critically acclaimed performance inBuno Haansh, the adaptation ofSamaresh Majumdar's successful novel of the same name.
In 2015, he appeared inAparna Sen'sactionromanticdramafilmArshinagaropposite Rittika Sen. Released onChristmas2015, Dev's performance was critically acclaimed, apart fromJisshu Senguptaand Swagata Mukherjee. Upam Buzarbaruah ofThe Times of Indiareviewed: "The high point of the film are the performances. All the actors, including Dev, have performed perfectly."His performance of a mute gangster in the 2016actiondramafilmZulfiqar, earned him his second Filmfare Awards East 2017 nomination for Best Actor. Dev's first film of 2017 wasChaampdirected byRaj Chakraborty. The film got critical acclaim from critics and was a commercial success earning above 8.90 crores. His next film of 2017 wasCockpitdirected byKamaleshwar Mukherjee. The film got positive reviews from critics but failed at the Box Office. Dev next starred in Kamaleshwar Mukherjee directedAmazon Obhijaan, a sequel to the 2013 filmChander Pahar. Dev reprised his role as Shankar Rai Chodhury. The film was well received by critics and became the highest grossing Bengali film of all time earning over 48 crores. On 5 January 2018, the film was dubbed and released in five languages: Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Odia and Assamese. In 2018, he starred in the action thriller filmsKabirandPassword. AlthoughPasswordreceived critical acclaim, the film didn't manage to do well at the box-office. That year in December he starred inSanjhbati.
After no release in 2020, he starred in two films in 2021. Thehistoricalsports drama filmGolondaajdirected by Dhrubo Banerjee and produced under the banner of SVF was a blockbuster at box-office. It is based on the life of Nagendra Prasad Sarbadhikari, called as "The Father of Indian football". His second film that year wasTonic. A family drama directed by Avijit Sen, the film received positive reviews and everyone's performance was praised, specially the bonding between Dev and Bandopadhyay. At the5th Filmfare Awards Bangla, the film received six nominations and won three, including Best Film, Best Actor (Paran Bandopadhyay) and Best Debut Director (Sen).It went on to become the highest-grossing Bengali film of 2021.
In 2022, he starred inKishmishwithRukmini Maitra. It received good reviews and faired decently at the box-office, earning 2.6 crores.Then he starred inKacher ManushwithProsenjit ChatterjeeandIshaa Saha. It earned him a nomination for "The Best Actor Award" in6th Filmfare Award Bangla. In December he starred inProjapotiwithMithun Chakraborty,Mamata ShankarandKoushani Mukherjeein lead roles. Made on a budget of 1.5 crores, it was a huge blockbuster at the box-office, collecting more than 13 crores.It became thehighest grossing Bengali film of 2022and thethird highest grossing Indian Bengali film of all time. In 2023, he played the titular role ofByomkesh Bakshiin the Birsa Dasgupta directorialdetectiveaction thrillerByomkesh O Durgo Rahasyaalong withRukmini MaitraandAmbarish Bhattacharyain pivotal roles. His second film in 2023 was the historical biopicBagha Jatin, which became his first film to be released simultaneously in both Bengali and Hindi. His third film in 2023 wasPradhan. Released on 22 December 2023, the film opened to positive reviews from the critics and emerged as a box-office success. It marked the third collaboration between director Avijit Sen and Dev after the blockbustersTonicandProjapoti.
In 2024, he starred in theSrijit Mukherjidirectorialhostage thrillerTekkaco-starringRukmini MaitraandSwastika Mukherjee. His 45th film, it was released in Durga Puja 2024 to mixed reviews from the critics and positive reviews from the audience.In December 2024, he starred in the Soojit Dutta directorial action film titledKhadaanco-starringJisshu Sengupta,Barkha BishtandIdhika Paul.It marked his return to the action genre after a few years.It registered the highest first week gross and the highest single day collection for an Indian Bengali film; and emerged as one of thehighest grossing Bengali film of 2024and one of thehighest grossing Bengali films of all time. He has 2 upcoming films under various stages of production. The first is a historical biopic titledRaghu Dakat, scheduled to release in Puja 2025.After that he will star inProjapoti 2directed by Avijit Sen. A sequel to the 2022 filmProjapoti, it is scheduled for a December 2025 release.
In November 2011, as a special appearance inRaj Chakraborty's serialSobinoy NibedoninSananda TV, with a bevy of beauties wrapped around him, Dev showed his Romeo side, dancing to "Ami Romeo", "Khokababu jaye", "Gal mitthi mitthi bol" and "Paglu thoda sa karle romance". "I wish Naina and Joydeep a very happy married life," Dev later told t2.Again in March 2012, Dev appeared in a holi special show 'Ronger Anandey' atSananda TV.
In April 2010 and again in December 2011, he entered as a special guest inMirakkelAkkel Challenger, an Indian Reality Show onZee Banglahosted byMir Afsar Aliand directed by Subhankar Chattopadhyay.He also came as special guest in many shows such as Dadagiri Season 2, Season 4 etc. Dev became the main coach and judge ofDance Bangla Dancein the show's eighth season, replacing Mithun Chakraborty.
Dev has given many stage performances and has participated in several concerts. In 2007, he performed in the Bengal Film Journalists' Association (BFJA) awards 2007.In 2009, he performed in ETV bangla prathama in a Bengali TV channelETV Bangla. He performed in a concert also,Mon Mane Naconcert in 2009. Being a terrific dancer, he's also a brilliant stage performer. He also performed in many award functions as in Star Jalsha Entertainment Awards 2009, Star Jalsha Entertainment Awards 2010, Zee Banglar Gourav Samman 2011, Star Jalsha Entertainment Awards 2011, Jaya Hey, Zee Bangalar Gourav Samman 2012.
Dev won the2014 Lok Sabha Electionsas aTrinamool Congresscandidate fromGhatal constituency.He gave his maiden speech in theLok Sabhaafter two years of winning the elections, inBengali languageregarding the implementation ofGhatal Master Plan.He was re-elected consecutively from the same constituency in2019and2024.
Dev has had special appearances in several films. In 2009, he made a cameo appearance in the item song "Pante tali" ofChirodini Tumi Je Amardirected byRaj Chakrabortyand produced byShree Venkatesh Films.The song was one of the leading chartbuster songs of the year. In the same year, he appeared in an additional item number "Jibone ki Pabona" in the filmJackpot, directed byKaushik Ganguly. The song was a cover of a track originally performed by Bengali actorSoumitra Chatterjee.
In 2010, he appeared as himself inAbhik Mukhopadhyay'sEkti Tarar Khonje.
In 2012, Dev made a cameo appearance inBawali Unlimited, directed bySujit Mondal.
In 2018, Dev made a cameo appearance as himself inUma, directed bySrijit Mukherji.
Dev topped the listCalcutta Times Most Desirable Menin the year 2013.In addition to his films, he also endorses several brands, such asVivel-ITC Limited,Royal Stag,Shricon TMT Bars,Bakefresh Biscuits,and the television channelJalsha Movies.He is touted as one of the richest Bengali actors and politicians with assets over₹15,000,000.
Before the2014 Lok Sabha Electionsthe Bengali tabloidEbelaasked him if he enjoyed being in the spotlight. He replied: "...it's just like being raped, either you can enjoy or can shout." This comment sparked controversy as being inappropriate and insensitive and led to calls for him to withdraw his candidacy.Thereafter, he apolozised for his comments on his official Twitter account.