KOCHI: Right from childhood, the little Rajan was keen in observing the on-stage performances of actors. For theatre was his passion.
His father S J Dev and mother Kuttiyamma, who were closely associated with theatre, did not want their son to be a professional artist. S J Dev, who knew the hardships that the theatre artists were facing, strongly insisted his son to kill his his passion.
But after his father's death, the young Dev decided to take the 'road not taken'. He decided to turn into a full-time dramatist. That decision was the turning point in his life. Soon the Malayalam theatre saw the emergence of another strong artist - Rajan P. Dev.
Born at Cherthala in Alappuzha district on May 20, 1954, Dev's career took a U-turn after his association with renowned drama personality N N Pillai. Later, he set up Jubilee Theatres, under which he used to write plays and act in the lead role. But in the initial years, he struggled to make both ends meet. In the meantime, he made small appearances in movies like 'Ente Mamattikkutty Ammakku', 'Pappan Priyappetta Pappan', 'Shyama' and 'Makan Ente Makan'. But the roles were too small to project his acting calibre.
The real breakthrough in his career was the character Carlos in the movie 'Indrajalam' directed by Thambi Kannanthanam. The movie which was released during 1990 Onam marked the presence of a new tough actor.
With his different slangs and mannerisms, Dev portrayed the underworld don Carlos to perfection.
Mixing a versatile style and tough looks, Dev portrayed an array of villains in Malayalam cinema.
Even in his last movie 'Ee Pattanathil Bhootham', Dev portrayed a similar sort of character.
But Dev was not an actor who restricted himself to the stereo-type villains. Diverting from the villain track, he also did major roles in many comedy flicks.
He acted in nearly 140 movies in a career that flourished a span of 20 years.
Apart from Malayalam, he had also donned roles in Tamil and Telugu. His roles in Allu Arjun's Telugu superhits 'Arya' and 'Bunny' were widely applauded by cine buffs.
Dev's notable films include 'Aniyan Bava Chettan Bava', ''Thommanum Makkalum', 'Junior Mandrake', 'Commissioner', 'Ekalavyan', 'Manthrikam', 'Azhakiya Ravanan', etc. He had also directed two movies - 'Achammakuttiyude Achayan' and 'Achante Kochumolkku'.