Gulshan Devaiah (born 28 May 1978) is an Indian actor who primarily appears in Hindi films. He is known for his roles in Shaitan, Hate Story and Hunterrr. His performance in Shaitan was critically praised and earned him a nomination for Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut. He has starred in web series such as Afsos, Duranga, Dahaad,Guns & Gulaabs and Bad Cops.
Early and personal life Devaiah was born on 28 May 1978 in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India into a Kodava family. He is a NIFT graduate. He is the son of Sri Devaiah and Pushpalata who were employed by Bharat Electronics Ltd. He completed his primary education at Cluny Convent and St Joseph's Indian High School. After graduation from NIFT, he got jobs in the fashion industry where he worked for 10 years. He also taught Bangalore students, fashion, at Wigan & Leigh College. Devaiah started his Bollywood journey with minor roles in Bangalore's English theatre. After he performed in several dramas, he moved to Mumbai for bigger opportunities.
He was married to actress Kallirroi Tziafeta, from Greece, from 2012 to 2020.
Career
Devaiah started his career from the Anurag Kashyap's feature film That Girl in Yellow Boots, alongside Kalki Koechlin and Naseeruddin Shah in 2010. The film was screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, followed by the Venice Film Festival. He played the role of Chitiappa in the film. Next in 2011, he appeared in Rohan Sippy's crime thriller Dum Maaro Dum, starring Abhishek Bachchan, Bipasha Basu, Rana Daggubati and Prateik Babbar, where he played the role of Ricky. In the same year, Devaiah appeared in Bejoy Nambiar's Hindi thriller film Shaitan, starring Rajeev Khandelwal and Kalki Koechlin, where he portrayed the role of Karan Chaudhary "KC". Released in June 2011, the film was a critical and commercial success, where Devaiah's performance was acclaimed. He was nominated for the several awards including, Filmfare Awards, Screen Awards, Stardust Awards and Apsara Film & Television Producers Guild Awards in the category of Best Male Debut and Best Actor in a Supporting Role, along with other ensemble characters.
In 2012, Devaiah appeared in Vivek Agnihotri's erotic thriller Hate Story, produced by Vikram Bhatt, co-starring Paoli Dam. This was his first lead role, where he portrayed the antagonistic role of Siddharth Dhanrajgir, a cocky son of a rich business tycoon. The film went on to become a sleeper hit, and garnered the positive reviews from the critics. Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama rated 3/5 to the film and labelled Devaiah's performance as "excellent". The same year, he played in Vasan Bala's crime thriller film Peddlers alongside Nimrat Kaur, where he portrayed the role of Ranjit D'souza, a 20-years old boy, who gets trapped in the drug trade. The film was premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, which was muted by the critics. In 2013, Devaiah appeared in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's romantic-tragedy drama film Ram-Leela, starring Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone, where he played the role of Bhavani, which was a 'blockbuster' in the year. After a year gap, In 2015, Devaiah appeared in Harshavardan Kulkarni's adult comedy film Hunterrr, co-starring Radhika Apte, where he portrayed the role of Mandar Ponkshe, a sex-addicted man and describing his lustful journey in life. The film did well at the box-office. In 2016, he was also seen playing the role of an NRI in Vivek Agnihotri's film Junooniyat. Devaiah signed 3 films in 2017, Cabaret, A Death in the Gunj and CandyFlip. He played double role of twin brothers Karate Mani and Jimmy in action comedy film Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota for which he won Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor and was also nominated for Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor. He played the role of Buraq Ansari in action film Commando 3. In 2020 he appeared in Amazon Prime's drama series Afsos and Netflix original film Ghost Stories.
Filmography
Films All films are in Hindi unless otherwise noted. Year Title RoleNotesRef. 2004 Dil Ne Jise Apna Kahaa DJ 2010 That Girl in Yellow Boots Chittiappa Siddanna Gowda 2011 Dum Maaro Dum Ricky Shaitan Karan 'KC' Chaudhary 2012 Hate Story Siddharth Dhanrajgir Peddlers Ranjit D'Souza 2013 Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela Bhavani 2015 Hunterrr Mandar Ponkshe2016 Junooniyat Yash2017A Death In The Gunj Nandan "Nandu" Bakshi 2018Mard Ko Dard Nahi Hota Karate Mani & Jimmy Double role 2019Cabaret GauravCommando 3Buraq AnsariCandyFlip Altaf 2020Ghost StoriesGirl's FatherUnpausedAhanFootfairyVivan Deshmukh 2022Badhaai DoGuru NarayanBlurr Neel 20238 A.M. MetroPreetam2024UlajhNakul Bhatia / HumayunJhansi Ka RajkumarRajkumar 2025 Kantara: Chapter 1KulashekaraKannada film2026Maa Inti BangaaramKarunaTelugu film
Television Year Title Role Ref.2018Smoke Jairam "JJ" Jha2020AfsosNakul2022DurangaAbhishek Banne Shiksha Mandal Aditya Ray 2023Dahaad Devi Lal SinghGuns & Gulaabs4 Cut Atmaram2024Bad CopKaran & Arjun2025Perfect Family Vishnu Karkaria
Short film YearTitle2015Nayantara's Necklace2017The Thought Of You2020The Sleepwalkers2021Dobara Alvida
Awards and nominations Year Award Work Category Result 2012Filmfare AwardsDum Maaro Dum, Shaitan & That Girl in Yellow BootsBest Male DebutProducers Guild Film AwardsShaitanBest Actor in a Supporting RoleScreen AwardsBest Ensemble Cast2020Mard Ko Dard Nahi HotaBest Supporting ActorFilmfare AwardsBest Supporting Actor2023Filmfare AwardsBadhaai DoBest Supporting Actor2023 Filmfare OTT AwardsDahaadBest Supporting Actor (Drama series)
References
External links