Rajan P. Dev (20 May 1951 – 29 July 2009) was an Indian film and stage actor. He was born in Cherthala in the Alappuzha district of the former state Thiru-Kochi (present day Kerala). He had acted in over 500 films in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada languages. He was noted for his villain roles laced with a touch of humour. He came into the limelight for his characterisation of Kochuvava in the play Kattukuthira.[1] Rajan P. Dev died in Kochi Wednesday 29 July 2009 due to a liver disease.[2]
Family
Rajan.P.Dev was born to Devassia who was known as S. J. Dev, a popular stage and drama actor of his times, and Kuttyamma in 1951 at Cherthala. He has a sister, Raniyamma. He had his education from Govt. Boys Higher Secondary School, Cherthala, St. Michael's College, Cherthala and Sree Narayana College, Cherthala.[3]
Rajan P. Dev, born to noted stage actor S. J. Dev and Kuttyamma, started his acting career with various professional play troupes in Kerala. His father remained one of his major influences.[5] He was noted for his performances in various plays in the troupe of senior stage actor N. N. Pillai. He was cast by S. L. Puram Sadanandan to do the protagonist role of Kochuvava in his play Kattukuthira. The play was staged in over 100 venues and Dev became immensely popular all over Kerala. He received the Kerala State Theater Best Actor Award in 1984 and 1986. Along with his successful stage career, Dev launched his film career. Despite his success in films, he maintained a steady relationship with stage plays. He founded the play troupe Jubilee Theatres; and for its plays he did creative contributions in various departments. The last play by Jubilee Theatres, a satire titled Amminipuram Gramapanchayat had its lyrics and music by Dev.[5]
Film career
Dev launched his film career with Ente Mamattikkuttiyammakku (1983), directed by Fazil. When his superhit play Kattukuthira was made into a film, the role went to Thilakan. Dev expressed his disappointment on this in a magazine interview, which caught the attention of director Thampy Kannanthanam. He invited Dev to play the villain role of Carlos in his film Indrajaalam (1990), starring Mohanlal. Just like his character Kochuvava, Carlos also became immensely popular so much so that for some years since then Dev was often referred to as Carlos, much like Keerikkadan Jose another popular villain character of that time.[6] The role of Carlos proved to be career-defining for Dev, as he was showered with villain roles in a number of films.
Several of Dev's villain roles had a touch of comedy, but he could not get out of the typical villain character mould. He got a break from this with Aniyan Bava Chetan Bava (1995), directed by Rajasenan, in which he played Aniyan Bava, the younger brother to Chettan Bava, played by Narendra Prasad. The film established his versatility. He went on to act in full-fledged comedy roles after it, most notably in the films Sphadikam (1995), Thommanum Makkalum (2005) and Chota Mumbai (2007). He still continued to act his signature villain roles. He expanded his career to Tamil, Telugu and Kannada films starting with Gentleman (1993), directed by S. Shankar. He acted in over 50 films in those languages, most of which were villain roles. Out of about 800 films he acted in, many of the roles he played were of corrupt police officer, minister, etc., another testimonial to the several typecast roles he had to act in.[7] Dev has directed three films: Achammakuttiyude Achayan (1998), Maniyarakkallan and Achante Kochumolku (2003). He was planned to direct two more films titled Kayal Rajavu and Simham, starring Mammootty and Prithviraj, respectively.[8]
Death
Rajan P. Dev suffered from various disease like diabetes and liver cirrhosis during his last times. He was admitted to hospital many times due to these problems. He also lost his sight due to diabetes, and suffered without seeing camera during many shootings. On 26 July 2009, he vomited high amounts of blood at his home in Angamaly, and was admitted to Little Flower Hospital near his home. Later, he was shifted to Lake Shore Hospital in Kochi for advanced treatment, where he died on 29 July, aged 58.[7][9] The last film that he had acted in was Ringtone, directed by Ajmal.[10]
