[3] In a career spanning 32 years, he has performed and designed dancing styles and has garnered two National Film Awards for Best Choreography.

[4] Beginning with a series of acting roles in the 1990s and early 2000s, Prabhu Deva featured in several commercially successful films including Kadhalan (1994), Love Birds (1996), Minsara Kanavu (1997) and VIP (1997).

Deva then failed to recreate the success of his earlier films and his box office value began to decline and he subsequently made appearances in supporting roles in Tamil.

He then went on to make highly profitable films in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi languages such as Pokkiri (2007), Shankar Dada Zindabad (2007), Wanted (2009), Rowdy Rathore (2012), R... Rajkumar (2013) and Singh is Bliing (2015).

Deva first appeared as a boy playing a flute in the song "Panivizhum Iravu", from the Tamil film Mouna Ragam (1986).

In 1999, Deva, Shobhana and A. R. Rahman performed with a Tamil cinema dancing troupe at the "MJ & Friends" Michael Jackson tribute concert in Munich, Germany.

Appearing alongside actress Roja and Sarathkumar, Deva's ability to dance was fully utilised in the song sequences, with gaana and disco music thereafter being regularly featured in his films.

He made his breakthrough as an actor with Shankar's sophomore film, the romantic drama Kadhalan (1994), where he portrayed a young student who first stands up against his lover's father and then an international terrorist.

[13] The film also saw success through its dubbed Telugu and Hindi versions, creating a market for Deva in other Indian regional industries.

Shot extensively in London, Love Birds received a wide theatrical release in overseas destinations and won Deva positive reviews for his portrayal.

[14] Meanwhile, for Mr. Romeo, Deva charged a comparatively high ₹60 lakhs for his remuneration and appeared in a double role alongside Shilpa Shetty and Madhoo.

[15][16] Deva won critical acclaim for his role in Rajiv Menon's romantic drama Minsara Kanavu (1997), where he portrayed a streetwise hairstylist who inadvertently attracts the attention of a young woman, who he tries to help set up with another man but instead falls in love with her.

[23] During the period, Deva also signed a big-budget bilingual Hindi and Tamil production titled Mazhai Vara Poguthey opposite Juhi Chawla.

[28] In this period, he also notably worked on the film One Two Three, The Winners (2002) along with Jyothika and real-life brothers, Raju Sundaram and Nagendra Prasad,[29] as well as Siddique's successful hit Engal Anna (2004), with Vijayakanth.

Deva also portrayed a supporting role in Santosh Sivan's Malayalam historical drama film Urumi (2011), featuring in an ensemble cast including Prithviraj, Arya and Genelia D'Souza.

[33] Deva returned to Tamil cinema as an actor after a gap of 11 years with the 2016 film Devi, joining hands with director A. L.

[55] In 2010, Ramlath filed a petition at the family court, seeking directions against Deva from live-in relationship with the actress Nayanthara and requesting a reunion with him.

[64] Deva made brief appearances in solo items such as "April Mayile" in Idhayam (1991), "Lallaku Doldapi Ma" in Suriyan (1992), "Chinna Rasave" in Walter Vetrivel (1993), "Chikku Bukku Rayile" in Gentleman (1993), after appearing as junior artist in songs such as "Rajathi Raja" in Agni Natchathiram (1988).

He performed at the opening ceremony of the 2012 Indian Premier League on 3 April in Chennai along with Amitabh Bachchan, Salman Khan, Kareena Kapoor, Priyanka Chopra and American artist Katy Perry.