Devan Sreenivasan (born January 8, 1954), is an Indian film and television actor, producer, and politician from Kerala. He is known for his character roles in Malayalam, Tamil, and Telugu language films.[1] After many second hero and supporting actor roles, he made his breakthrough in the 1987 film New Delhi. He later advanced to a lead actor with films like Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam (1987), Oozham (1988), Simon Peter Ninakku Vendi (1988) and Aranyakam (1988). His well-known movies such as Vietnam Colony (1992), Ekalavyan (1993), Honest Raj (1994), Baashha (1995) and Indraprasdham (1996). He is also known as 'Devji'.
Devan was born on 5 May 1954 in Thrissur, India. His father, Sreenivasan, was a public prosecutor and his mother, Lalitha, was a doctor. He has three siblings, Shobha, Sheela and Sureshbabu. His family has a Kalaripayattu lineage.[citation needed] Malayalam filmmaker Ramu Kariat was his uncle. Devan completed his schooling at Government Model Higher Secondary School, Thrissur.[2] He took bachelor's degree from St. Thomas College, Thrissur, during his college time he was a member of Kerala Students Union (KSU); his parents were Indian National Congress-leaning. His father wanted him to be a police officer, but he wanted to be in army. After graduation, he tried at the National Defence Academy, but was not selected. He went to Madras (now Chennai) in search of a job and later took post-graduation in Master of Business Administration.[3]
During his time in college, he used to read books a lot. He found possibility for a film in N. N. Pisharody's novel Vellam, he approached director Hariharan, who agreed with him, M. T. Vasudevan Nair wrote the screenplay, it was the first and last screenplay of his not based on his own story. Devan produced the film, filming was halted midway due to financial crisis. He made his acting debut in Ashatapathi to raise fund to resume filming, it was followed by a number of acting projects. After which, shooting resumed, but upon release, the film failed at the box office. In an interview, he said that Vellam (1985) is the best film come out from Hariharan-M. T. Vasudevan Nair combination. It was in the 1987 film New Delhi that he first appeared as a villain, since then he was typecast as a villain in Malayalam cinema. However, in Telugu cinema, he is known for character roles. Devan recalled in an interview that his best roles were in Telugu and Tamil cinema.[3]
He was engaged in several business ventures before starting his career in movies.[4]
Devan started his acting career in supporting roles, after being approached by a producer at Spencer Plaza in Chennai.[5] His most notable movies are Ekalavyan, Baasha and Indraprasdham. He has also acted in several TV series.[6]
He was married to his uncle Ramu Kariat's daughter, Suma. The couple has a daughter named Lakshmi.[7] His wife Suma died on 12 July 2019 due to H1N1 infection.
Devan was an active supporter of Indian National Congress in his college days. Later he became founder and leader of the Kerala People's Party, a political party in the Indian state of Kerala.[8] During the UPA regime he again worked along with the Indian National Congress. In a 2014 interview, Devan said that a politician he admired a lot was Ramakrishna Hegde.[3] In 2021 he merged Kerala People's Party to BJP in the presence of Home Minister of India Amit Shah.
Year | Title | Channel | Role | Language | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1995 | Chinna Chinna Aasai - Uravu | Sun TV | Suresh | Tamil | Television debut |
2001 | Porutham | Surya TV | Malayalam | Won, Social Organisation for Media and Arts (SOMA)-Best Actor | |
2002 | Sarada | Asianet | Malayalam | ||
2004 | Orma | Asianet | Nandan Menon | Malayalam | |
2005 | Kudumbini | Asianet | Nandakumar | Malayalam | |
2005-2006 | Krishnakripasagaram | Amrita TV | Kamsa | Malayalam | |
2006 | Lakshyam | Asianet | Malayalam | ||
2006-2008 | Swamy Ayyappan | Asianet | Raja Rajasekhara Pandiyan/Pandhalam Rajavu | Malayalam | Won, Asianet Television Award 2008-Best Supporting Actor |
2006-2008 | Kalyani | Surya TV | Malayalam | ||
2007 | Manasariyathe | Surya TV | Malayalam | ||
2006 | Daya | Kairali TV | Major | Malayalam | |
2007 | Mounam Nombaram | Kairali TV | Malayalam | ||
2008 | Srikrishnaleela | Asianet | Vilwamangalam Swamiyar | Malayalam | |
2008-2009 | Kalasam | Sun TV | Tamil | ||
2009 | Dream City | Surya TV | Mulkattil group CEO Menon | Malayalam | |
2009 | Swamy ayyappan Sharanam | Asianet | Raja Rajasekhara Pandiyan/Pandhalam Rajavu | Malayalam | |
2009-2010 | Autograph | Asianet | Principal | Malayalam | |
2010 | Ponnum poovum | Amrita TV | Devan | Malayalam | |
2010 | Indhraneelam | Surya TV | Malayalam | ||
2010-2011 | Veera Marthanda Varma | Surya TV | Thiruvithamkoor Rajavu | Malayalam | |
2012 | Ramayanam | Mazhavil Manorama | Dasharatha | Malayalam | |
2013 | Sri Padmanabham | Amrita TV | Thiruvithamkoor Rajavu | Malayalam | |
2021–Present | Kanyadanam (2021 TV series) | Surya TV | Ananthan | Malayalam | Come back to television |