Devan (writer)

Devan (R. Mahadevan) (8 September 1913 – 5 May 1957) was a 20th-century Tamil writer, known for his witty and humorous stories.

Devan was a competent and accomplished writer, who used several interesting and varied techniques in fiction writing. From travelogues to recipes, from detective stories to social dramas, he has written them all.

Early life

Devan was born in 1913 at Thiruvidaimarudur in Thanjavur district, Tamil Nadu, India, where he did his schooling. He came to Kumbakonam Government College to complete his B.A. degree. He worked as a school teacher for a year, before joining the popular Tamil weekly magazine, Ananda Vikatan in 1933. Devan's first foray into the world of writing was through the humorous short story "Mister Rajamani", written when he was in his twenties.

Life as an editor

Devan started as a Sub-Editor at Ananda Vikatan in 1933. After Kalki Krishnamurthy left Vikatan, worked as Managing Editor from 1942 to 1957.

During this time, he wrote about 20 serials, more than 500 stories, articles and travelogues. A common feature in all his works was his gentle sense of humour. He was a very popular writer and stories abound of how, when a new issue of Ananda Vikatan came out, everyone in the family would fight to get hold of the copy first.

Devan

Devan may refer to:

People

Other uses

Devan (film)

Devan is a 2002 Tamil action film directed by Arun Pandian making his debut as director, the film stars himself in title role being his 100th project as actor with Meena and Kausalya in the lead roles while Karthik Muthuraman and Senthil make guest appearances. Vijayakanth makes an extended special appearance. Malayalam actor Saikumar made his Tamil debut with this film.

Plot

When the movie opens Devan(Arun Pandiyan) murdering photographer Jeeva(Thalaivasal Vijay) in cold blood in his house. Jeeva strategically positions a video camera to capture the impending murder but Devan never shows his face to it. And when Jeeva shouts out the name of his killer before dying, the audio is lost at that point. While the police search for the killer, Devan zeroes in on Chetta (Saikumar) as his next target. He follows Chetta to Chandigarh but is apprehended by CBI officer Ratnavel(Vijayakanth). But once Ratnavel realises Chetta's true nature, he begins to help Devan, even hiring successful lawyer Chakravarthy(Karthik) to fight for him.

Devan (actor)

Devan (born 8 January 1952) is an Indian film actor and politician. He started his film career as the producer of the technically brilliant, but box-office flop movie Vellam and then opted to become an actor. Devan is known for his handling of serious roles, though he started his career with supporting roles. Devan was promoted as Hero in late 1980s with films like Oozham, Aaranyakam, Simon Peter, Ninakku Vendi and Oru Minnaminunginte Nurunguvettam, but most of those were failures. He is also the leader of the Kerala People's Party, a political party in the Indian state of Kerala. Devan has acted in many Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu movies. His notable movies like Ekalavyan, Baasha, and Indraprasdham are still very popular. He has also acted in TV serials.

Personal life

He was born in a prominent family on 8 January 1952 at Thrissur. His father Sreenivasan was a public prosecutor and his mother Lalitha, a housewife . Shobha, Sheela and Sureshbabu are his siblings. He had his primary education from Govt Model Boys Higher Secondary School,Thrissur. He obtained BSc. degree from St. Thomas College, Thrissur and holds Masters in Business Administration. His family has a rich kalari lineage his tharavad is of Aristocratic genre. The famous Malayalam movie director Ramu Kariat is his uncle from maternal side. He is married to Ramu Kariat's daughter Suma. The couple has a daughter Lakshmi.