Hindi
Deven Varma is no more
NEW DELHI: The veteran actor who began his career in the black and white era and eventually also became producer and director passed away early this morning in Pune. Aged 78, Varma passed away following a heart attack and kidney failure. He had not been well for some time and had suffered from diabetes and heart problems.
He is survived by his wife Rupa Ganguly, the younger daughter of the late thespian Ashok Kumar.
Born on 23 October 1937 in Pune, Verma studied at the Nowrosjee Wadia College for Arts and Science of the Pune University and graduated in politics and sociology before joining the film industry. The college had organised a function in his honour in 2012 to felicitate Verma as an ‘Eminent Wadian’. Varma was born in a family dealing in silver but his father also got film distribution.
Considered a master of comedy since he never used external props or funny looks to evoke laughter and managed this through his excellent timing, Verma is best remembered for roles in films like Angoor where he had a double role, Golmaal, Chori Mera Kaam, Andaz Apna Apna, Bemisal, Judaai, Dil To Paagal Hai, and Kora Kagaz.
He won three Filmfare awards in his career for performances Chori Mera Kaam, Chor Ke Ghar Chor and Angoor in which he acted with Sanjeev Kumar in the Gulzar-directed Indian version of William Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors.
Apart from Hindi films, Varma also acted in Marathi and Bhojpuri films.
He started his acting career in 1961 with Dharamputra and was last seen in the 2003 film Calcutta Mail. Some of his new films were ‘Dil To Pagal Hai’, ‘Ishq’, ‘Kya Kehna’, ‘Salaakhein’, ‘Mere Yaar Ki Shaadi Hai’ and ‘Hulchul’. Other films among the 149 he acted in include Khatta Meetha, Naastik, Rang Birangi, and Dil.
He also tried his hands at producing films but failed. Besides producing eight films, Varma directed four films namely Nadaan, Bada Kabutar, Besharam and Daana Paani. Throughout his acting career, he remained a favourite of directors like B R Chopra, Basu Chatterji, Hrishikesh Mukherjee and Gulzar.
As a young man, he participated in dramas and youth festivals. It was while doing stage shows as part of a drama group that actor Johnny Whiskey and he started mimicking film artistes on stage. BR Chopra saw him performing in a one-act show at a function of the North India Punjabi Association and picked him for Dharmaputra. He then went overseas for stage shows.
On return, he was taken by AVM Studios on a contract for Rs 1500 a month for three years. He stayed in Madras where he was coached in acting. During this time, another B R Chopra which starred him, Gumrah was released in 1963 and became a big hit. Apart from this and the earlier Dharmaputra, he acted with Ashok Kumar also in the black and white Aaj aur Kal. After Gumrah, he acted in Qawwali Ki Raat (1964) opposite Mumtaaz, which was her first film. He then acted in Devar (1966), Anupama (1966), and a Bhojpuri film Nahihar Chutal Jaiye opposite Kumkum.
He made it big in 1975 after Chori Mera Kaam, which gave him his first Filmfare Award. At one time, he said in an interview that he had the record of working in 16 movies at one time. Films like his personal favourite Deedar-e-Yaar, Esmayeel Shroff’s Ahista Ahista, Jeetendra’s Pyaasa Sawaan, and Yash Chopra’s Silsila were released.
In a music industry that often rewards speed, spectacle, and instant recall, Navjot Ahuja’s journey feels refreshingly different. His story is not built on noise. It is built on patience, discipline, emotional honesty, and a quiet commitment to becoming better with every passing year. After 14 years of struggle, learning, performing, and writing, Navjot stands today as an artist whose success has not changed his centre. If anything, it has only made his purpose clearer.
For Navjot, music has never been about chasing fame alone. It has always been about expression. It is about writing more truthfully, singing more skillfully, understanding himself more deeply, and becoming a kinder human being in the process. That rare clarity is what gives his journey its beauty.
Where It All Began: A Writer Before a Singer
Indian singer and songwriter Navjot Ahuja’s musical journey began in the most familiar of places: school assemblies. But even then, what was growing inside him was not only the desire to sing. It was the need to write.
Long before he saw himself as a performer, he had already discovered the emotional release that writing offered him. For Navjot, words became the first true channel for feeling. Songwriting came before singing because writing was the only way he could let emotions flow through him fully. That inner pull shaped his artistic identity early on.
Like many young musicians, he sharpened his craft by creating renditions of popular songs.
Those experiments became his training ground. But the turning point came in 2012, when he wrote his first original song. That moment did not just mark the beginning of songwriting. It marked the beginning of self-definition.
A Calling He Did Not Chase, But Accepted
What makes the latest Indian singer-songwriter Navjot’s story especially compelling is the way he describes his relationship with music. He does not frame it as a career he aggressively pursued. In his own understanding, music was not something he chose. It was something that chose him.
There was a time when he imagined a very different future for himself. He wanted to become a successful engineer, like many young people shaped by ambition and conventional expectations. But life had a different script waiting for him. During his college years, around 2021, music entered his life professionally and began taking a firmer shape.
That shift was not driven by image-building or industry ambition. It came from acceptance. Navjot embraced the fact that music had claimed him in a way no other path could. That sense of surrender continues to define the artist he is today.
An Artist Guided by Instinct, Not Influence
Unlike many singers who speak openly about idols, icons, and musical role models, Navjot’s creative world is built differently. He does not believe his music comes from imitation or inherited influence. He listens inward.
He has never considered himself shaped by ideals in the traditional sense. In fact, he admits that he does not particularly enjoy listening to songs, especially his own. His decisions as a songwriter and singer come from instinct. He writes what feels right. He trusts what his inner voice tells him. He positions his music according to what he honestly believes in, not what trends demand.
That creative independence gives his work a distinct emotional sincerity. His songs do not feel calculated. They feel alive.
The Long Years of Invisible Struggle
Every artist carries a chapter of struggle, and Navjot’s was long, demanding, and deeply formative. One of the biggest challenges he faced was building continuity as the best new indian singer songwriter in an era where musical collaboration is increasingly fluid.
For emerging singers, especially those trying to build with a band, consistency can be difficult. Instrumentalists today have more opportunities than ever to freelance and perform with multiple artists. While that growth is positive and well deserved, it can make things harder for singers who are still trying to establish a steady team and sound around their work.
For Navjot, one of the most difficult phases came during 2021 and 2022, when he was doing club shows almost every day. It was a period of relentless performance, but not always personal fulfillment. He was largely singing covers because clubs were not open to original songs that audiences did not yet know.
For a new Indian singer and songwriter, that can be a painful compromise. To perform constantly and still not have the freedom to share your own voice requires not just resilience, but restraint.
“Khat” and the Grace of Staying Unchanged
After 14 years of effort, Navjot’s new love song Khat became a defining milestone. Professionally, he acknowledges that the song changed how society viewed him as a musician. It strengthened his place in the public eye and altered his standing in meaningful ways.
Yet personally, he remains unchanged.
That is perhaps the most striking part of his story. Navjot says his routine is still the same. His calm is still the same. His writing process is still the same. He does not want success or failure to interfere with the purity of his art. For him, emotional detachment from public outcomes is essential because the moment an artist becomes too attached to validation, the writing begins to shift.
His joy comes not from numbers, but from the attempt. If he has tried to improve his skill today, if he has written his heart out more honestly than before, then he is at peace.
Growth, Not Glory, Remains the Real Goal
Even now, Navjot is not consumed by labels such as singles artist, performer, or digital success story. His focus remains deeply personal. He wants to sing better. He wants to play instruments better. He wants to understand himself more. And he wants to become a kinder person.
That is what makes Navjot Ahuja’s journey so moving. It is not simply the story of a musician finding recognition. It is the story of an artist who continues to grow inward, even as the world begins to look outward at him. In an age obsessed with applause, Navjot reminds us that the most meaningful success often begins in silence, honesty, and the courage to remain true to oneself.
