Deepraj Rana

Although belonging to Allahabad, where he did his schooling, Deepraj Rana settled for Chandigarh to do his higher education, and the Punjab link continued when he turned towards brushing up his acting skills finishing off as a post graduate from the Department of Theatre of Punjab University. From 1989, he had been associated with Nadira Babbar’s theatre troupe Ekjut, and the 5 years that he spent with them seems to have stood him in good stead. Not only did he bag several awards, but also obtained for him several positive references to enable him bag a role in the 1990 TV serial “Tara” opposite Ratna Pathak. Since then he seems to have had a prolific run, having acted in more than 12 popular TV serials across most of the major channels, with some like “Reporter” running for over 100 episodes. His other significant roles in TV serials have been in the historical, “The Great Maratha” and the typical soap operas “Yug” and “Shatranj”. Of more recent vintage have been the serials “Jai Hanuman”, an obvious mythological; and “Commando” where he portrays a crime fighter’s role. Incidentally, in the latter, he was teamed with his wife-to-be, Natasha.

In fact, a high point in Deepraj’s career occurred with his marriage to fellow serial actress, Natasha, who was by then well known for her role in “Sapna Babul Ka… Bidaai” as Chhoti Maa. Together they formed their own production house and brought financial stability for themselves side by side with their success as serial actors. Going ahead further, they have also given full rein to their creative talents with Natasha writing serials too, along with their production. Although this bug of producing serials had caught up with them, the husband wife pair declares quite candidly that acting would be their prime focus. This is also the reason why Deepraj through his consistent performances in serials could comfortably move into the realm of movies, with his name appearing in the casting of several well known and hit films, starting from “Saathiya” in 2002, but gaining more prominence in films like “Sahab Biwi aur Gangster” in 2011, followed by its sequel “Sahab Biwi aur Gangster returns” in 2013. Portraying similar roles in the more recent “ Gunday” in 2014 and “ Singham Returns” in the same year, he seems to have made a particular niche for himself in mainstream Bollywood movies.

Another version of this story...

Deepraj is an established actor in television and film industry. He was born and brought up in Allahabad and passed his High School Examination from Boys' High School Allahabad. Then he moved on to Chandigarh and completed his graduation from DAV College Chandigarh. After his graduation, he also did a Post Graduation in Acting from Department of Indian Theatre, Punjab University, Chandigarh.

He was interested in acting from his childhood and was awarded the Best Actor Award for his performance during his college days in Chandigarh in 1983. He was also awarded the 'Mohan Rakesh Gold Medal for his performance in acting and over all theatre work from Punjab University.

He is in the entertainment industry for more than 20 years now and he has a number of TV serials and movies to his credit. He worked in serials like Chanakya, Chandrakanta, Reporter, Yug Udaan, Tara, The Great Maratha, The Sword of Tipu Sultan, Na Aana Is Des Laado and left ight Left. Presently he is working in superhit serial Devon Ke Dev Mahadev. In all these shows, his performance was highly appreciated.

Apart from TV serials and dramas, he has also worked in a number of movies, some of which are Saathiya, Mangal Pandey: the Rising, Saheb Biwi aur Gangster, Ghost, Chakravyuh, Loot and 498A, the Wedding Gift. He received a great applause for his performance in Mangal Pandey, and Aamir Khan starrer and 498A, The Wedding Gift.

Deepraj is a gifted actor and his performance is expected to enchant the viewers for long time to come.