Biography
Prabhu Deva is an Indian choreographer, film director, producer, and actor who has worked across Tamil, Telugu, Hindi, Malayalam, and Kannada cinema. Over a career spanning twenty-five years, he has showcased a diverse range of dance styles and has won two National Film Awards for Best Choreography.
Inspired by his father, Mugur Sundar, a renowned South Indian choreographer, Prabhu Deva trained in Indian classical dance forms like Bharatanatyam under Dharmaraj and Udupi Lakshminarayanan, as well as in Western dance styles.
Prabhu Deva made his first appearance as a boy playing the flute in the song "Panivizhum Iravu" from the Tamil film Mouna Ragam (1986). He later worked as a background dancer in a song for the 1988 Tamil film Agni Natchathiram. His debut as a choreographer was for the Kamal Haasan-starrer Vetri Vizha (1989).
During the 1990s and early 2000s, Prabhu Deva acted in several commercially successful films such as Kadhalan (1994), Minsara Kanavu (1997), and VIP (1997). He also received critical acclaim for his roles in the comedy Kaathala Kaathala (1998) and the family drama Vanathai Pola (2000). However, he struggled to replicate the success of these earlier films, leading to a decline in his box office appeal and appearances mainly in supporting roles and low-budget Telugu films. He found success as a director with the 2005 Telugu film Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana, which led to more directing opportunities. Subsequently, he directed several commercially successful films across Telugu, Hindi, and Tamil languages, including Pokkiri (2007), Wanted (2009), Rowdy Rathore (2012), and Singh is Bling (2015).
11 wins and 6 nominations
