Prabhu Deva facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Prabhu Deva
Deva at the promotion of Rowdy Rathore in 2012
Born	(1973-04-03) 3 April 1973 (age 52) Mysore, Mysore State (now Karnataka), India
Occupation	Actor director dance choreographer producer
Years active	1991–present
Works	Full list
Spouse(s)	Ramlath ​ ​ (m. 1995; div. 2011)​ Himani Singh ​ (m. 2020)​
Children	4
Parent(s)	Mugur Sundar (father)
Relatives	Raju Sundaram (brother) Nagendra Prasad (brother)
Honours	Padma Shri (2019)

Prabhu Deva is a famous Indian dancer, film director, producer, and actor. He has worked mostly in Tamil, Hindi, and Telugu films. He has also appeared in some Kannada and Malayalam movies.

Prabhu Deva has been working in the film industry for over 30 years. He is known for his amazing dance styles. He has won two National Film Awards for Best Choreography. In 2019, he received the Padma Shri award for his great contributions to dance.

In the 1990s and early 2000s, Prabhu Deva starred in many successful films. These include Kaadhalan (1994), Love Birds (1996), and Minsara Kanavu (1997). Later, he became a very successful director. He directed popular films like Pokkiri (2007), Wanted (2009), and Rowdy Rathore (2012).

Early Life and Family

Prabhu Deva was born on April 3, 1973, in Mysore, Karnataka, India. His family is from the Kannadiga community. His father, Mugur Sundar, was also a choreographer for South Indian movies.

Inspired by his father, Prabhu Deva started dancing. He learned Indian classical dance forms like Bharatanatyam. He also learned Western dance styles. His brothers, Raju Sundaram and Nagendra Prasad, are also involved in the film industry.

Prabhu Deva first appeared as a young boy playing a flute in a song from the film Mouna Ragam (1986). He was also a background dancer in Agni Natchathiram (1988). His first job as a choreographer was for the film Vetri Vizha (1989). Since then, he has choreographed dances for over 100 movies.

In 1999, Prabhu Deva performed with a Tamil cinema dance group. This was at the "MJ & Friends" Michael Jackson tribute concert in Germany. He also serves as the chairman and director of the Prabhu Deva's Dance Academy in Singapore.

Acting Career

Early Roles: 1993–2004

After appearing in many songs, Prabhu Deva got his first main acting role. This was in the romantic film Indhu (1994). In this movie, his amazing dance skills were fully shown in the songs.

He became very famous as an actor with the film Kaadhalan (1994). In this movie, he played a student who stands up against his girlfriend's father and a terrorist. The film was praised for its technical quality and won four National Film Awards. The songs and Prabhu Deva's choreography, especially "Mukkabla" and "Urvasi Urvasi," became very popular. Kaadhalan was the highest-grossing Tamil film of 1994. This success made Prabhu Deva a popular actor across India.

His next film, Raasaiyya (1995), did not do well. However, he continued to get roles in big-budget films. In 1996, he worked on Love Birds and Mr. Romeo. Love Birds was filmed in London and was released in many countries. For Mr. Romeo, Prabhu Deva played a double role. The music and dance in both films were highly praised.

Prabhu Deva received great reviews for his role in Minsara Kanavu (1997). He played a hairstylist who falls in love. This film won four National Film Awards. Prabhu Deva also won the National Film Award for Best Choreography for the song "Vennilave." Critics praised his graceful performance.

His next film, V. I. P. (1997), was a romantic comedy. It also did well commercially. Critics said Prabhu Deva had matured as an actor since his earlier films.

He continued to have successful roles in films like Kaathala Kaathala (1998) and Ninaivirukkum Varai (1999). He also appeared in Vaanathaippola (2000), where his acting skills were appreciated.

In the early 2000s, Prabhu Deva started working on more comedy films. He received good reviews for his role in Eazhaiyin Sirippil (2000). He also had commercial success with Ullam Kollai Poguthae (2001), Manadhai Thirudivittai (2001), and Charlie Chaplin (2002). Many of his other Tamil films during this time did not do as well financially.

He worked with his real-life brothers, Raju Sundaram and Nagendra Prasad, in the film One Two Three, The Winners (2002). He also starred in the hit film Engal Anna (2004). During this period, he also acted in the Kannada film H₂O and the Hindi film Agni Varsha. He also worked a lot in the Telugu film industry.

Directorial Success and Dance Films: 2005–2015

After his success as a director, Prabhu Deva started acting in fewer roles. He played lead roles in dance films like Style (2006).

He also had a supporting role in the Malayalam historical film Urumi (2011). Critics praised his performance in this film. He continued to appear in dance films such as ABCD (2013) and its sequel ABCD 2 (2015). These films were commercially successful. Critics noted that Prabhu Deva was not only great at dancing but also good at acting in dramatic scenes.

Recent Work: 2016–Present

Prabhu Deva returned to Tamil cinema as an actor in 2016 with the film Devi. This film was also made in Hindi and Telugu.

Other films he starred in include Kalavaadiya Pozhuthugal (2017), Gulaebaghavali (2018), and the silent film Mercury (2018). He also appeared in the musical dance film Lakshmi (2018).

In 2019, Charlie Chaplin 2 was released, which was a sequel to his 2002 film. He also wrote lyrics for a song in this film. After that, he appeared in Devi 2, a sequel to Devi. This film was also made in Telugu as Abhinetri 2 and Khamoshi.

Besides acting, Prabhu Deva directed Dabangg 3 (2019). He also appeared in the dance film Street Dancer 3D (2020). He directed Salman Khan in Radhe (2021).

In 2021, Prabhu Deva acted in his 50th film as an actor, titled Pon Manickavel. In this movie, he played a police officer for the first time. In 2022, he had three film releases: Theal, My Dear Bootham, and Poikkal Kudhirai.

He gave a strong performance in the film Bagheera (2023). In 2024, he appeared in a Kannada film after a long time, Karataka Damanaka. He was also cast in the action thriller film The Greatest of All Time.

Personal Life

Prabhu Deva married Ramlath, who later changed her name to Latha. They had three children. Sadly, their oldest son passed away from cancer in 2008 at the age of 13.

In May 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown in India, Prabhu Deva married Himani. She is a physiotherapist from Mumbai. He had a fourth child, a girl, on June 13, 2023.

Prabhu Deva's mother, Mahadevamma, is from a village called Doora. He owns property there and has developed a farm.

Other Appearances

Deva with Sonakshi Sinha and Akshay Kumar during the promotion for the film Rowdy Rathore

Prabhu Deva has made short appearances in many songs. These include "April Mayile" in Idhayam (1991) and "Chikku Bukku Rayile" in Gentleman (1993). He performed with Madhuri Dixit in the song "Ke Sera Sera" for the movie Pukar.

He acted alongside Lawrence Raghavendra in the 2006 Telugu film Style. He performed with Apache Indian in the song "No Problem" for his film Love Birds.

Prabhu Deva's performance at IPL Season 5 opening ceremony

He performed in the film Aabra Ka Daabra for the song "Om Sh". He also performed in the film Shakti: The Power (2002) for a song. He made a special appearance in Pokkiri (which he also directed) with Vijay in the song "Aadungada". He performed again with Vijay in his own directed film Villu for the song "Hey Rama". He performed with Bollywood actors Salman Khan and Govinda for a song in his 2009 directed film Wanted.

He performed at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Indian Premier League in Chennai. This event was special because it was also his 39th birthday.

Filmography

Honours and Awards

Prabhu Deva has received many honors and awards for his work.

Honours

Awards

See also

In Spanish: Prabhu Deva para niños