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Prabhu Deva is a famous Indian choreographer, director, producer, and actor. He is known as the ‘Indian Michael Jackson.’
Wiki/Biography
Prabhu was born on Tuesday, 3 April 1973 (age 50 years; as of 2023), in Mysore, Karnataka. His zodiac sign is Aries. He got training in Bharatanatyam (an Indian classical dance form) from, Dharmaraj and Udupi Lakshminarayanan. He dropped out of his school and assisted his father in dance choreography in the South-Indian films.
Prabhu Deva’s Childhood Picture
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 6′
Hair Colour: Black
Eye Colour: Black
Family, Caste & Wife
Prabhu was born into a Lingayat Hindu Family. His father, Mugur Sundar, has worked as a choreographer in South-Indian films. His mother’s name is Mahadevamma. Prabhu has two brothers, Raju Sundaram and Nagendra Prasad, both are choreographers.
Prabhu Deva with His Parents
Prabhu Deva with His Father and Brother-Raju Sundaram
Prabhu Deva’s Brother- Nagendra Prasad
Reportedly, Prabhu was in a relationship with his co-dancer Ramlath. They both were in a live-in relationship and secretly got married in 1995. Ramlath was a Muslim girl and converted to a Hindu for their marriage. She even changed her name from Ramlath to Latha. Later, they were blessed with three sons, Vishal, Rishi Raghavendra Deva, and Adhith Deva. In 2008, their eldest son, Vishal died after struggling with cancer for a long time. On 2 July 2010, the couple got divorced, after, Prabhu accepted the rumours of his affair with actress Nayanthara to be true.
Prabhu Deva with His Wife and Son- Vishal
Prabhu Deva with His Sons- Rishi and Adhith
After his divorce, he moved in a live-in relationship with Nayanthara. After dating for almost three years, the couple got separated. Reportedly, Prabhu was not ready to tie the knot with the Nayanthara, and this became the reason for their break up.
Prabhu Deva with Nayanthara
In 2020, during the COVID-19 lockdown, he got married to an Indian doctor Himani Singh in a private ceremony. In June 2023, the couple welcomed a baby girl; their first child together.
Prabhu Deva with his second wife Himani Singh
Career
Prabhu’s father is a well-known choreographer of South-Indian films. Prabhu got inspiration to work as a choreographer from his father, so, he started assisting his father and accompanied him on the sets of films. He started his career as a choreographer in Tamil films with Vetri Vizha (1989). He has worked as a dance choreographer in more than 100 Hindi and regional films before making an appearance on the big screen. Some of his popular choreographed songs are ‘Muqabala Muqabala’ (Hum Se Hai Muqabla, 1994), ‘Urvashi Urvashi’ (Hum Se Hai Muqabla, 1994) ‘Kay Sera Sera’ (Pukar, 2000).
He has acted in many Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada films. Some of his films as an actor are ABCD (2013), Lakshmi (2018), Pon Manickavel (2019), and Street Dancer (2020).
He has tried his hands on the direction as well, some of his directorial films are Shankardada Zindabad (2007), Wanted (2009), Ramaiya Vastavaiya (2013), Dabangg 3 (2019), and Radhe (2020).
Controversy
Prabhu’s extra-marital affair with Nayanthara made a buzz, when his ex-wife, Latha, filed a petition in the family court, seeking orders to prevent her husband from entering into a live-in relationship with Nayanthara.
Awards & Honours
National Film Award
1996: Best Choreography for Minsara Kanavu (1997)
2004: Best Choreography for Lakshya (2004)
Filmfare Award
2005: Best Choreography for Lakshya (2004)
Padma Shri
2019: For his contribution in the field of arts
Prabhu Deva Receiving the Padma Shri Award
Favourite Things
- Director(s): S. Shankar, K. Balachande, Dasari Narayana Rao, and K. Raghavendra Rao
Facts/Trivia
- His birth name was Shankupani.
- He has started his dancing school in Singapore.
- His father won National Award for choreography in 1994.
- Prabhu performed live on stage first time at the age of 11.
- When he was 16, he choreographed the ace actor Kamal Haasan in Vetri Vizha (1989).
- In an interview the South-Indian actor Chiranjeevi said,
I owe a lot to Prabhu Deva because he was the brain behind my dance numbers which were very popular with the masses. The boy is a born dancer.”
- Prabhu’s is one of the Indian celebrities who has his statue waxed in the Wax Statue Museum, Lonavala, Mumbai.
Prabhu Deva Posing with His Wax Statue