Actor Mukul Dev, best known for his appearances in films such as Son of Sardaar, R… Rajkumar, and Jai Ho, passed away at the age of 54 earlier on Friday night. The news of his passing reached his friends by Saturday morning, prompting several of them to visit his residence. As longtime friends and colleagues shared their condolences on social media, filmmaker Kunal Kohli shared a bunch of never-seen-before pictures of the late actor from the time before they got into movies.
Taking a trip down memory lane, the filmmaker wrote, “#MukulDev gone too soon. Here are some pics of a holiday in Dalhousie we took before we both entered films. I must’ve been in college. Mukul and my cousin Mohnish in the 11th or 12th in St. Columbus. Delhi. #memories”
Check out the pictures here:
#MukulDev gone too soon. Here are some pics of a holiday in Dalhousie we took before we both entered films. I must’ve been in college. Mukul and my cousin Mohnish in the 11th or 12th in St. Columbus. Delhi. #memories pic.twitter.com/sJjeI1uS7x
— kunal kohli (@kunalkohli) May 24, 2025
Born in New Delhi into a Punjabi family with roots near Jalandhar, Dev was exposed early to a blend of cultures and disciplines that would later shape his multifaceted career. His father, Hari Dev, served as an assistant commissioner of police and held a deep admiration for Afghan culture. Fluent in Pashto and Persian, Hari Dev’s interests left an impression on Mukul.
Before fully committing to acting, Dev trained as a commercial pilot at the Indira Gandhi Rashtriya Uran Akademi.
His acting career officially began with the television serial Mumkin in 1996, where he portrayed the character Vijay Pandey. That same year, he featured in Doordarshan’s Ek Se Badh Kar Ek, a Bollywood-themed comedy countdown show, and went on to host the first season of Fear Factor India.
Later that year, he made his cinematic debut with the film Dastak, starring opposite Sushmita Sen, who was also making her first appearance on the big screen after winning the Miss Universe title. Dev played ACP Rohit Malhotra, a role that introduced him to film audiences and marked the beginning of a career that would span multiple languages and genres.