Dev was born to Guru and Mousumi Adhikari in Mahisha, a small village near Keshpur in West Bengal, India. His nick name is Raju and he has a sister named Deepali. He spent his childhood with his maternal uncle in Chandrakona after which he was brought up in Mumbai.
Education
He attended Purushottam High School in Bandra and Bharatiya Vidyapeeth in Pune. He received a Dimpoma in Computer Engineering from the latter after which he returned to Mumbai and started his film career as an observer on the sets of Abbas-Mustan’s Taarzan: The Wonder Car. He also did an acting course at the Kishore Namit Kapoor Acting Academy.
He made his debut as a Bengali actor with the film Agnishapath in 2005 directed by Prabir Nandi opposite Rachana Bannerjee. The film did not perform well at the box office. However, the film I Love you, directed by Ravi Kinnagi was in development at the Shree Venkatesh Films and Dev earned the male lead role for the film. Despite the financial success of the film, Dev did not take up any films for the next 14 months. He went back to Mumbai and dedicated in improving his skills. He learned dance and trained under fight choreographer Aejaz Gulab (of Shootout at Lokhandwala and Mission Istanbul). Dev returned to acting in Bengali cinema with the film Challenge directed by Raj Chakraborty opposite Subhashree Ganguly. The film was an action- romance and became a huge hit in West Bengal making Dev popular among the audience. Dev did an item number “Pante Tali” in the film Chirodini Tumi Je Amar and another in the film Jackpot besides making a special appearance in Ekti Tarar Khonje. Dev also starred in the Bengali film Shedin Dekha HoyeChilo opposite Srabanti Chatterjee which was one of the biggest hits of 2010. The title track of the film being shot in Switzerland is one of the best romantic songs of Tollywood ever. The film also had an item number “Khokababu jaye, Lat Juto Paye” which was the entry song for Dev in the film and was the costliest song of Tollywood until the release of Khokabau in January in 2012 which contained the costlier item number, “Dance maare Khokababu.” Dev also starred in Paglu opposite Koel Mallick in 2011 which was the highest opener in Tollywood history before Challenge2 was released in October 2012. Paglu is highest in terms of earning T.R.P on Bengali television till date and even left 3 Idiots behind in the T.R.P battle. His movie Romeo in 2011 opposite Subhashree Ganguly earned Dev commendations from all sections of audience and critics. A biography of Dev titled Aami Dev was released in December by Greymind Publications. Dev was also the main lead of the film Khokababu in 2012 opposite Subhashree Ganguly which is the 2 nd highest grossing Tollywood film and also the longest running movie of 2012, featuring in theatres for more than 300 days. The item number “Dance Maare Khokababu” was the costliest song of Tollywood till Challenge2 released in October whose title track “Challenge nibi na sala” broke all records to become the costliest song ever made in Tollywood.
Television
He made a special appearance in Raj Chakraborty’s serial ‘Sobinoy Nibedon’ in November 2011 and a Holi special show ‘Ronger Anandey’ in 2012 on Sanada TV. He again entered as a special guest in Mirakkel Akkel Challenger in April 2010 and many other shows like Dadagiri Season 2 and 4. Dev also became the main coach and judge of Dance Bangla Dance Season 8 replacing Mithun Chakraborty.
Stage
Dev has given many stage performances and has participated in a number of concerts including Bengal Film Journalists’ Association (BFJA) awards 2007, ETV Bangla Prathama and Mon Mane Na Concert in 2009. He has also performed in various award shows like Star Jalsha Entertainment Awards 2009, Star Jalsha entertainment Awards 2010, Zee Banglar Gourav Samman 2011, Star Jalsha Entertainment Awards 2011, Jaya Hey and Zee Banglar Gourav Samman 2012.
Politics
Dev won the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections as a Trinamool Congress candidate from Ghatal constituency.
Special Appearances
He made a cameo appearance in the item song “Pante Tali” of the film Chirodini Tumi Je Amar, another item number “Jibne Ki Pabona” of the film Jackpot in 2009. He also appeared as himself in Abhik Mukhopadhyay’s Ekti
Tarar Khonje in 2010 and in Bawali Unlimited in 2012.
Brand Endorsements
Dev endorses several brands including Vivel-ITC Limited, Royal Stag, Shricon TMT Bars, Bakefresh Biscuits and the television channel Jalsha Movies.
Dev also became a playback singer for the film Khokababu under the banner of Eksay Movies.
Dev also topped the list of Calcutta Times Most Desirable Men in the year 2013.
Dev has been honoured with a number of awards including Anandalok Awards for Best Actor and Best Action Hero 2009. He has won numerous awards as Best Actor such as Star Jalsha Entertainment Awards 2010, Tele Cine Awards 2010, Kalakar Awards 2010, Anandalok Awards 2011 and many more. He also won the Star Jalsha Entertainment Awards 2013 for Best Dancing Sensation, Star Jalsha Entertainment Awards 2013 Best Debut Singing, Most Desirable Tollywood Actor 2014 for Best Actor and Tollywood National Award 2014 for Best Romantic Hero. He even won the prestigious Filmfare Awards East in 2014 and Kolkata Most Desirable Actor 2016. He has many more awards to his acclaim.
Dev has also been nominated for Star Jalsha Entertainment Awards 2010 for Best Actor, Anandalok awards for Best Actor 2011, Zee Bangla Awards 2011 for Best Actor, Anandalok Awards 2012 for Best Actor (Male), 13 th Tele Cine
Awards 2013 for Best Actor and Tollywood National Award 2014 for Best Action Hero.