Devaraj

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Devaraj
Born 20 September 1960
Bangalore, Karnataka, India
Nationality IndiaIndian
Other names Dynamic Hero, Devraj
Occupation Actor
Years active 1986 - Present
Spouse(s) Chandralekha [1]
Children Prajwal Devaraj
Pranaam Devaraj

Devaraj (Kannada: ದೇವರಾಜ್) is an Indian actor and theatre actor who works in South Indian film industries. He has largely featured in Kannada films performing various roles as a lead character, supporting character and villainous character. He has also featured in a few Tamil and Telugu films.

Having worked for over 200 feature films, Devaraj is popularly referred to as a "Dynamic Hero" in the Kannada film industry.[2] Prior to acting in films, Devaraj has performed for various stage plays under the guidance of Shankar Nag and B. Jayashree. Devaraj has won several awards and accolades including the Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor for his portrayal as the protagonist in the film Veerappan in 1991.[3]

Early life

Hailing from Lingarajpuram in North Bangalore, Devraj's sole passion was theatre. He was with B. Jayashree's theatre group Spandana and later with Shankar Nag's Sanket. It was Nag's irrepressible and infectious zeal that turned Devraj's thoughts towards cinema. Devraj first appeared on-screen in a cameo in Koogu produced by Nag and directed by Sitaram.

An employee of HMT for nine years, he entered the filmfield through 'Trisula' as a villain. Later he continued as a villain and became a hero. He continued to be in this glamour field doing many illogical roles. And in the process, he was branded as a 'policeman' of the screen, since he played many such roles. Now after a decade and half of his career, he feels that there is enough scope for him to change the track, from action roles to some off-beat roles.

[2] However, including this film, other two films for which he appeared, Trishula and Sikku, did not release and fell into the cans.[3]

Career

Devaraj's first released film was 27 Mavalli Circle in 1986. He played a villainous role in the film and was appreciated for his performance. Following this, he received many offers to do the villain characters for a handful of movies. He was also offered several supporting character roles such as in Aaganthuka, Navabharatha among others. He was majorly noticed in the Ambarish starrer Indrajith in 1989 directed by K. V. Raju.

Following a string of films featuring him in villainous roles, Devaraj was considered for many films that showed him as a Police officer in the early 90's. Most notable films include Lockup Death, Golibaar, Gang Leader and Circle Inspector. He played his first lead role character in the film, Aavesha in 1990. He was stereo-casted as a cop in many films throughout the 90's. To break this, he did few critically acclaimed lead roles in the films such as Veerappan (he won the State award for best actor), Huliyaa, Bangaarada Mane, Choobaana, Kambalahalli, Utkarsha among others.

After the year 2000, Devaraj switched over to character roles and debuted in Tamil and Telugu film industries. He worked in highly acclaimed films such as Naan Kadavul, Malaikottai and Villu in Tamil and Yagnam, Sri in Telugu.[4] In Kannada, his most notable roles in this era was Deadly Soma, Namma Basava, Maurya, Habba, Pandavaru among others. In 2012 released Dashamukha, he was in the lead among the rest of the ensemble cast.

Personal life

Devaraj married actress Chandralekha in 1988 whom he met on the sets of his earliest film Sikku.[1] After their marriage, Chandralekha quit herself from acting. They have two sons, Prajwal Devaraj and Pranaam. Prajwal is among the current emerging starlets in the Kannada film industry.

Notable filmography

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Nina C George. "Long-lasting love". Deccanherald.com. Retrieved 2012-06-12. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Friday Review Bangalore : Hero, villain, two in one". The Hindu. 2006-06-23. Retrieved 2012-06-12. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Welcome to". Sify.com. Retrieved 2012-06-12. 
  4. ↑ "Devaraj". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2013-10-26. 

External links

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