Deven Khote

Deven Khote is the grandson of Veteran actress Durga Khote Durga Khote is a legendary actress of Indian cinem >> Read More... . Being in a household of great actors and actresses, who had a passion for acting, little Deven was very much intrigued by the same; he felt the same passion.

He did his early schooling from The Cathedral & John Connon School, Mumbai. When he was in the fourth standard, he got an opportunity to play a role in a play, “Barnaby.” That irked his interest in acting in general, and in theatre in particular.

It is his love for theatre that led him to spend most of his youth days acting in numerous plays. From the year 1980 to 1990, he presented himself in some plays including Death of a Salesman, Children of a Lesser God, Night of January 16th, Noises off, God and Death, All the King’s Men, A Streetcar Named Desire and the Wiz.

He graduated from the Mumbai University, in the commerce stream. Taking a hiatus from theatre, Deven Khote moved on to make a successful career in the Media Industry. He was one of the founders and the executive director of the UTV group.

He is also on the board of directors for companies like G Interactive Entertainment Ltd, Windmill Entertainment Ltd. However, his first love ‘the theatre’ is something that kept pulling him back. After having directed at least 200 advertisements films and many television programmes, he feels that the experience differs.

He expresses his feelings saying, "In television, one has unlimited time to explore and tell a story, but in a commercial, one has to communicate the concept in 30 seconds, which is a big challenge." Recently, that is after a break of over 20 years, Deven Khote whose love for theatre was ever strong says, “Theatre is an integral part of me!”.

The reason being, and in Khote’s own words, “It’s an exciting feeling to perform in front of a live audience, unlike TV programmes. One can always change the dialogues or move around the script instantly to bring the audience’s attention together when in a play'. 

Among the many movies co-produced by him, DevD, Lagaan, Kaminey, are his favourite. However, as a Director and Producer, it is these movies, Udaan (2010), The Happening (2008) and Paan Singh Tomar Click to look into! >> Read More... (2012) that has brought him fame, Deven loves cricket and likes to read in his spare time. And when he is not doing theatre, he is involved in his other passions - photography, shooting real images with a surreal touch.