Devaraj is an Indian theatre artist and actor, who mainly works in South Indian films. In 2023, he played the role of Om in the Telugu film ‘Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire.’
Wiki/Biography
Devaraj aka Ramachandrappa Devaraj was born on Sunday, 20 September 1953 (age 70 years; as of 2023) in Lingarajpuram, Bangalore, Mysore State, (now Bengaluru, Karnataka) India. His zodiac sign is Virgo.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 8″
Hair Colour: Brown
Eye Colour: Light Brown
Family
He belongs to a Hindu family.
Parents & Siblings
His father, Ramachandrappa, worked in the ITC Factory, Welfare department, he passed away when Devaraj was only three months old. His mother’s name is Krishnamma.
Wife & Children
In 1986, Devaraj met the Indian actress Chandralekha on the sets of the film Sikku. Soon, they became good friends, and later, fell in love with each other. In the same year, on 27 June 1986, the couple got married. After their marriage, Chandralekha left her career in the films. On 4 July 1987, their son Prajwal Devaraj was born, and on 29 January 1988, their son Pranam Devaraj was born. Both his sons are actors.
Devaraj with his wife and sons
Career
Theatre
He started his career as a theatre artist and worked with various theatre groups like R. Nagesh’s theatre group, B. Jayashree’s theatre group named Spandana, and Shankar Nag’s theatre group named Sanket.
Film
Kannada
In 1985, he made his Kannada film debut with ‘Thrishula’ in which he played the role of Vinod.
A still of Devaraj from the film Thrishula
He has appeared in more than 200 Kannada films including ‘Aaganthuka’ (1987), ‘Hathya Kaanda’ (1989), ‘Veerappan’ (1991), ‘Killer Diary’ (1995), ‘Mukunda Murari’ (2016), ‘Yajamana’ (2019), and ‘Raja Marthanda’ (2023).
Killer Diary
Telugu
Devaraj made his Telugu film debut with the 1990 film ’20va Sathabdam’ as Suryam.
A still of Devaraj from the film 20va Sathabdam
He has appeared in many Telugu films like ‘Yerra Mandaram’ (1991), ‘Samarasimha Reddy’ (1999), ‘Raam’ (2006), ‘Evadaithe Nakenti’ (2007), and ‘Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire’ (2023).
Yerra Mandaram
Tamil
In 1988, he made his Tamil film debut with ‘Pillaikkaga’ in which he played a supporting role.
Pillaikkaga
Some of his other Tamil films are ‘Malaikottai’ (2007), ‘Villu’ (2009), and ‘NGK’ (2019).
NGK
Awards
- 1987: Karnataka State Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for the Kannada film Aaganthuka
- 1991: Karnataka State Film Award for Best Actor for the Kannada film Veerappan
- 1991: Nandi Award for Best Villain for the Kannada film Yerra Mandaram
- 2019: 9th SIIMA Award for Best Supporting Actor for the Kannada film Yajamana
Facts/Trivia
- He also goes by the name Devu.
- Devaraj also spelt as Devraj is known as ‘Dynamic Hero’ in the Kannada film industry.
- In 1976, due to financial problems in his family, he started working at HMT Watch factory, Case & Dial Section. He worked there for around nine years. One of his senior colleagues Govindaraju, suggested him to work in theatre dramas.