Mukul Dev

Mukul Dev Kaushal (/ˈ m ʊ k ʊ l d ɛ b ˈ k aʊ ʃ ə l / ; 17 September 1970 – 23 May 2025) was an Indian television and film actor. He was renowned for his roles in Hindi and Punjabi films, TV series, and music albums, and also appeared in Bengali, Malayalam, Kannada, and Telugu films. He received the 7th Amrish Puri Award for Excellence in Acting for his performance in the film Yamla Pagla Deewana.

Mukul Dev was born in New Delhi into a Punjabi family with roots in a village near Jalandhar and grew up in Delhi. He was the younger brother of actor and model Rahul Dev. They also have a sister. He studied at St. Columba's School, Delhi.

Mukul stated that he was exposed to Afghan culture through his father, who could speak Pashto and Persian. His father, Hari Dev, a former Assistant Commissioner of Police, died on April 17, 2019, at the age of 91.

In class 8, he won his first pay cheque when he impersonated Michael Jackson for a dance show organized by Doordarshan. He was a trained pilot from the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi.

Mukul Dev made his acting debut on TV through a serial Mumkin playing the role of Vijay Pandey in 1996. He also acted in Doordarshan's Ek Se Badkar Ek, a comedy Bollywood countdown show.

He was also the host of Fear Factor India Season 1.[ 11] He acted in several television serials in the 2000s such as Kahin Diyaa Jale Kahin Jiyaa (2001), Kahaani Ghar Ghar Kii (2003) and Pyar Zindagi Hai (2003). He participated in the dance competition show Kabhi Kabhii Pyaar Kabhi Kabhii Yaar in 2008.[ 12]

In 2018, he appeared in 65 episodes of the television series 21 Sarfarosh - Saragarhi 1897.

Dev was spotted by Amitabh Bachchan's company ABCL and got a role for a movie titled Naam Kya Hai but it got shelved. He made his film debut in 1996 with Dastak[ 13] as ACP Rohit Malhotra in the same movie which also introduced Miss Universe 1994 Sushmita Sen. He appeared in several films such as Qila (1998), Wajood (1998), Mere Do Anmol Ratan (1998), Kohram (1999) and Mujhe Meri Biwi Se Bachaao (2001). He also appeared in many regional films in Punjabi, Bengali and Telugu languages.

In recent years he played supporting roles in the Hindi films Yamla Pagla Deewana (2011), Son of Sardaar (2012), R... Rajkumar (2013) and Jai Ho (2014).

Shortly before his death, he shot for Son of Sardaar 2 which will mark his final film appearance.[ 14]

In May 2025, Dev was hospitalised for an illness. His health worsened and despite being moved to the intensive care unit, he died in New Delhi on 23 May, at the age of 54.[ 15] [ 16] [ 17] [ 18] [ 19]