Karan Dewan

Karan Dewan Biography

Karan Dewan was a ‘Jubilee star’ and leading actor of Hindi film screen in the 1940s and 1950s. With the 1960s he migrated to supporting roles. Till his death in 1979 he was active in Bollywood and worked in around 70 movies. He started his professional career as a journalist before moving to movies in the early 1940s. Rattan (1944) was his first major hit, followed by Zeenat (1945), Lahore (1949), Dahej (1950), Bahar (1951), Teen Batti Char Raasta (1953)etc. He also rendered his voice for a few film songs in the 1940s of which "Jab Tum Hi Chale Pardes" composed by Naushad became very popular. Karan has been paired with almost all leading ladies of 1940s and 20 of his films celebrated silver jubilee.

His real name is Dewan Karan Chopra. He was born on 6 November 1917 in Gujranwala, Punjab. He had two elder brothers. He got married to actress Manju, who played a supporting role in his first major hit – Rattan. He completed his education in Lahore. While at college he edited a film-based magazine Jagat Lakshmi in Urdu. He came into contact with Tarachand Barjatya, who worked as a manager in a distribution office then. That’s how Karan got into movies. He started his film career in Kolkata.

Punjabi film - Puran Bhagat in 1941 marked his film debut and he played the lead hero role. Very soon his second Punjabi film Mera Maahi (1941) was also released. B. R. Chopra then working as a film journalist introduced him to Devika Rani and Dewen moved to Mumbai. He also taught Urdu pronunciation to actors during his struggling days.  Rattan in 1944 was his real breakthrough and he rose to stardom. He was paired with Meena Kumari for Piya Ghar Aja. Since 1960s he acted in character roles - Shaheed, Aamne Samne, Jeene Ki Raah, Maa Aur Mamta Shehzada, Jalte Badan, Kala Sona, Bhanwar and Atmaram to name a few.

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Updated: March 20, 2016