Dev Alahan is a fictional character from the BritishITVsoap operaCoronation Street. Portrayed by Jimmi Harkishin, the character's first appearance was broadcast on 10 November 1999. He is the ex-husband of Sunita (Shobna Gulati) and father to Amber Kalirai (Nikki Patel), Aadi Alahan (Zennon Ditchett/Adam Hussain) and Asha Alahan (Tanisha Gorey). Dev departed on 13 February 2015, after Harkishin asked for an extended break from the show, and returned on 1 June 2015.[1] On 6 April 2019, it was announced that Harkishin would take a two-month break.[2]
In December 2004, it was announced that Harkishin had decided to take a break from Coronation Street following revelations about his private life. A spokesperson for Granada said Harkishin had been granted indefinite leave to sort out his "problems" and had their full support.[3]
Relationship with Sunita Alahan
On 12 February 2001, it was announced that Coronation Street would introduce a new Asian character named Sunita Parekh played by Shobna Gulati. Sunita was given an immediate link to established character Dev as she was an employee at his shop in Swinton. Sunita and Dev later went on to begin a relationship and eventually get married. The marriage ended in 2006 when Sunita was axed from the show.
On 16 May 2009, it was confirmed that Gulati would be returning to the programme, reprising the role of Sunita.[4]Coronation Street producer Kim Crowther first hinted at a possible return for Sunita in an interview with entertainment website Digital Spy the previous week.[5] She said: "We have a great new direction for Dev after Tara [Mandal]'s (Ayesha Dharker) exit. Further down the line, we build more family around Dev again and it might signal the return of some old faces…"[5]
Storylines
Dev as he appeared in 1999.
Amy Goskirk (Jayne Ashbourne), an ex-girlfriend, follows Dev to Weatherfield, claiming he had promised to marry her. He denies this, claiming she is mentally unstable so she claims to be pregnant with his baby and that she had attempted suicide. When she turns up at the Rovers Return with bandaged wrists, Dev exposes her lies by ripping off the bandages, revealing no cuts.
Some time later, Dev almost marries barmaid Geena Gregory (Jennifer James), but her mother is unhappy and pays Karen McDonald (Suranne Jones) to set him up so Geena will dump him. Although she forgives him, Geena and Dev later split up and she starts dating Joe Carter (Jonathan Wrather). Dev saves shop assistant Sunita Parekh (Shobna Gulati) from an arranged marriage, giving her a safe haven in the flat above the Corner Shop. Sunita develops feelings for Dev but he initially sees her as just a friend, but they later get involved. His other girlfriends include: cruise ship hairdresser Debs Brownlow (Gabrielle Glaister), and Tracy Barlow (Kate Ford), who wrecks his flat after discovering he has no intention of marrying her. He also sleeps with Tracy's mother, Deirdre (Anne Kirkbride), who he later employs.
Dev later meets solicitor Maya Sharma (Sasha Behar), while on the rebound from Sunita, who chooses barman Ciaran McCarthy (Keith Duffy) over him. He allows Maya to move in and she makes friends with Frankie Baldwin (Debra Stephenson), but gets jealous of the amount of time Dev and Sunita are spending together and forces him to choose. As Sunita is seriously ill, he chooses her. This enrages Maya so she smashes up his flat and frames Sunita for an illegal immigration scam so she is arrested on her and Dev's wedding day. Sunita is jailed but released when one of the illegal immigrants Maya married is arrested for a completely separate offence and identifies Maya as his "wife", pleading with her for help in front of the police. Maya is charged but released on bail and wanting revenge, she ties up Sunita and sets fire to all of Dev's shops, knocking him unconscious when he tries to rescue Sunita and leaves them to die. However, Ciaran and Charlie Stubbs (Bill Ward) save them.
Dev's marriage to Sunita is happy for a while, and the couple is overjoyed to discover that Sunita is expecting twins. Dev then sells his share of Streetcars to Lloyd Mullaney (Craig Charles) in order to buy a house for his new family. However, during 2005, Sunita takes in teenage Amber Kalirai (Nikki Patel), daughter of one of his employees as her mother is in hospital. Dev is unhappy at Amber's presence and Sunita is shocked to learn that Dev is her biological father, due to a brief relationship years ago. However, Sunita then learns that Dev has other children by women he employs and grandchildren too. Sunita is devastated, especially when Dev admits having very little contact with his daughters, and leaves him. She allows him to be present when she gives birth to the twins, who are named Asha and Aadi. Dev is overjoyed (especially as Aadi is his first son), but Sunita cannot forgive him so she leaves the street with the twins, moving into the house that Dev had bought. Dev, however, is allowed to have regular contact with the twins.
The following February, Amber (who now knows that Dev is her father) moves in with Dev as her mother is moving to Finland with her new boyfriend but Amber wants to stay behind in England. At first, Dev insists that she go with her mother, bitter about the part Amber played in his marriage breaking down, but eventually he thaws and allows her to stay living with him permanently. On New Year's Eve 2007, Dev takes over from Bob as best man for Vernon Tomlin (Ian Reddington) at his wedding to Liz McDonald (Beverley Callard) and is later hit by Jim McDonald (Charles Lawson), when Jim is attacking Vernon.
In summer 2008, Dev is upset after conversations with Tony Gordon (Gray O'Brien) and Norris Cole (Malcolm Hebden) make him realise that he is just a simple man running a chain of corner shops. To compensate, he takes out membership at a new golf club to make himself feel better. Dev goes for a round of golf with Vernon and by chance, they strike up a conversation with Prem Mandal (Madhav Sharma), who gives Vernon some pointers. The trio later have a drink together at the clubhouse and after Prem leaves, Dev tells Vernon that Prem is a very successful businessman who runs his own cleaning business. Dev then has an affair with Prem's wife, Nina Mandal (Harvey Virdi), (an ex-Bollywood star whom Dev once had a crush on), after going on a date with their friend, Lisa.[6][7]
Dev with Prem's wife Nina.
In August 2008, Dev buys a flat at the newly finished Victoria Court and becomes increasingly unhappy with his affair with Nina when he realises that she has been cheating on Prem for years. Nina blackmails Dev by threatening to tell Prem if he tries to end it, but Dev meets their daughter and finds himself torn between Tara (Ayesha Dharker) and Nina. Nina does not approve of Dev's attraction to Tara but they go on several dates regardless, so she threatens again to tell Prem about their affair. Dev, sick of Nina's threats, tells Prem himself, who is disgusted but Tara has taken quite a shine to him and tries to discourage her but she interprets his actions as honourable. Eventually, Dev visits Prem again and asks for his permission to date Tara asking Prem to promise that he would not tell Tara about Dev and Nina's affair for Tara's sake. Prem agrees but Tara tells Dev that Nina slept with her ex-boyfriend and insisted to Tara that she's paranoid and her boyfriend was not cheating on her.
In November 2008, he buys Jerry's Takeaway from Jerry Morton (Michael Starke) and renames it "Prima Doner". Amber is so angry when she discovers her father has taken away her boyfriend's home and livelihood that she tells Tara about Dev's affair with Nina. This causes her and Dev to briefly split up but they reconcile, with Amber's assistance. Dev's uncle, Umed Alahan (Harish Patel), arrives for a visit in March 2009 and begins helping out in the Corner Shop.
In April 2009, barmaid Poppy Morales (Sophiya Haque) sees Dev and Tara's family friend, Lisa Dalton (Ruth Alexander Rubin) together the night Tara dumps him, following an argument about her art gallery and she leaves. However, Poppy tells Tara that she saw Dev and Lisa together and Tara confronts Lisa about it, telling her not to visit them again. When she asks Dev what he did the night that she left, he says that he stayed in watching television so Tara plots revenge for his betrayal. She convinces Dev to let himself be photographed naked. On 11 May, in front of a huge crowd for an unveiling on urban degradation, Dev proposes to Tara but she rejects him before unveiling a huge photo of him naked with the word LIAR printed on it. Dev is humiliated and Tara leaves soon after but is horrified to realise how her revenge has humiliated Amber too. She apologises but Amber makes it clear that she's not interested. In October 2009, Umed returns to India.
In November 2009, Dev begins taking golf lessons to try to be better than Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson). However, Steve is doing the same. Dev begins charming his instructor, Bernie Sayers (Jennifer Hennessy), although he notices her strange behaviour around Steve and she admits that she is also teaching him. Dev and Bernie have a brief relationship, but she ends it when she realises that he really wants Sunita and his children back, after learning that she has a new partner, Matt, and that they're engaged. In January 2010, Dev is secretly pleased when Sunita tells him that she has broken up with Matt. Realising that they are meant to be together, Dev and Sunita agree to give their relationship another chance and buy 7 Coronation Street from the widowed single mother, Maria Connor.
In December 2010, after the tram crash Becky McDonald (Katherine Kelly) steals money from the Corner Shop's safe whilst Dev is in hospital after Sunita was injured. Later that month, Dev says whoever took the money will be on the CCTV footage from that night but discovers the camera was damaged; leaving the culprit unidentified.
In February 2011, he attends Peter and Leanne's wedding renewal and Owen Armstrong (Ian Puleston-Davies) visits, looking for payment, which Dev cannot afford; so Owen threatens to tear the Corner Shop apart again if he is not paid. Dev is also confronted by Sunita as she has learned that their savings account is empty. Dev admits that the Corner Shop was not insured and he has not paid the mortgage on the house either so Sunita asks to see the business accounts. She sees that all Dev's shops are in financial trouble for various reasons (e.g. roadworks and competition from other shops) so she suggests selling everything except the Kebab Shop and the Corner Shop. Dev breaks down as it took years to build up his business empire and asks Steve to loan him £5,000, but Steve can't give him anything as he owes money to Lloyd and Owen. In November, Dev and Sunita feel further financial pressure, especially with Amber's return, as she has dropped out of university. They clash over the cost of Dev's golfing when a huge bill arrives for his annual membership fee and gets worse when Dev takes Aadi to the club with Steve and, in discovering that he is very good, convinces Sunita that Aadi should have regular lessons. Sunita agrees on the condition that Dev spends the same on Amber and Asha. Sunita and Dev argue about their finances again in January 2012 when he buys Amber a car for her 21st birthday, leading Sunita (now feeling taken for granted) to have an affair with Rovers barman, Karl Munro (John Michie) and they are eventually caught together by Karl's fiancée, Stella Price (Michelle Collins), and her daughters Eva Price (Catherine Tyldesley) and Leanne Battersby (Jane Danson). Although devastated and heartbroken by Sunita's infidelity, Dev is willing to give her another chance, but she asks him to leave so he attacks Karl, trashes the shop and nearly drinks himself to death but Lloyd finds him and stops him from doing so.
In April 2013, Dev loses the love of his life after she is trapped inside the basement of the Rovers during a fire started by Karl Munro. Sunita initially survives the fire after being rescued by firefighters, but Karl removes her oxygen mask and suffocates her, so as he is not identified as the arsonist. As a result, Dev and the kids are left heartbroken with the police believing Sunita set the Rovers on fire when it was in fact, Karl who framed Sunita for the crime. In September 2013, Dev finally starts to see Karl's true colours after Karl threatens Jason Grimshaw (Ryan Thomas) while Dev is inside the house talking to Jason. The pair work together to uncover Karl's crimes. They gather more evidence as the days went on, then fifteen-year-old Craig Tinker (Colson Smith) runs away from home, which puts Dev under more suspicion and they question Craig at the Corner Shop with Jason arriving just in time. The pair force the truth out of Craig, telling them that Karl committed the crime. Now that Dev believes Craig's story of the events that Karl started the fire, Dev rushes to the altar to stop Karl from marrying Stella but it is too late as the couple is now married. Meanwhile, Jason takes Craig, Beth Tinker (Lisa George) and Kirk Sutherland (Andrew Whyment) to the police station to get Karl arrested for killing Sunita and Toni Griffiths (Tara Moran), the firefighter who was crushed in the inferno. Dev confronts Karl at his wedding reception in the Bistro, then follows him to the Rovers. After Karl finally admits to starting the fire, Dev attacks him, only for Karl to knock him unconscious by hitting him over the head with a bottle. Dev manages to text Jason while Karl holds him and Stella hostage. When Jason arrives, Karl threatens to set fire to the pub again. Jason drags Dev out while Karl takes Stella hostage in the cellar. As the police arrive, Karl realises he has to face the consequences of his actions and turns himself in to the police outside, which is witnessed by Dev, Jason and many other residents on the street.
In 2014, Dev begins to develop feelings for Stella and he decides that he is unfit. Gary Windass (Mikey North) hears Dev talking about this, and recommends his army friend Kal Nazir (Jimi Mistry), who has left the army and became a personal trainer. Initially, Dev declines the offer. However, Kal visits the Rovers and Dev later agrees to let Kal help him in his goal to get fit. Kal also begins training with Nick Tilsley (Ben Price), who is still suffering mentally after being involved in a car crash with his brother. On Dev's fiftieth birthday, he asks Stella for a drink. They both return to Dev's flat, unaware that Kal, Lloyd Mullaney (Craig Charles), Steve McDonald (Simon Gregson) and Andrea Beckett (Hayley Tamaddon) are hiding behind his sofa to surprise him. Dev tells Stella that he loves her, only for her to gently reject him, as the four behind the sofa emerge. Dev feels embarrassed.
Related Research Articles
Shobna Gulati is a British actress and presenter. Gulati is known for her roles as Anita in dinnerladies, and Sunita Alahan in the soap opera Coronation Street from 2001 to 2013. From 2013 to 2014, Gulati appeared as a panellist on the lunchtime talk show Loose Women. She took over the role of Ray in the West End production of Everybody's Taking About Jamie in 2019 and also reprised the role for the movie adaptation. Most recently, she played the role of Nima in Hullraisers, Mari Hoff in the 2022 UK Tour of The Rise and Fall of Little Voice, and is reprising the role of Ray in Everybody's Talking AboutJamie for the 2023-2024 UK and Ireland Tour.
Charlie Stubbs is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Bill Ward. He made his first appearance during the episode broadcast on 10 November 2003 and last appearance on 15 January 2007.
Shelley Unwin is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Sally Lindsay. She is the daughter of Bev Unwin.
The Rovers Return Inn is a fictional public house in the long-running British soap opera Coronation Street.
Maya Sharma is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Sasha Behar. Maya is remembered by fans of the programme for her relationship with Dev Alahan and her feud with Dev's wife Sunita Parekh. Maya held the pair hostage in her flat, and set the building on fire. As she made her escape, Maya was involved in a car accident.
Weatherfield is a fictional town based on Salford, Greater Manchester, which has been the setting for the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street since its inception in 1960. Much of Weatherfield has been seen by viewers throughout the years, though the primary focus from the viewer's perspective is the eponymous Coronation Street, a cobbled street where many of the programme's characters live. The soap opera is often shot on location around Salford and the neighbouring large city of Manchester, as its filming studios, the Granada Studios complex on Quay Street in Manchester city centre and its replacement set MediaCityUK in Salford Quays, only house the outdoor sets of Coronation Street and its immediate surrounding streets.
Sunita Alahan was a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Shobna Gulati. She made her first screen appearance on 23 March 2001 and remained in the show until 2006, when the character was axed from the serial by producer Tony Wood. In 2009, Sunita returned to Coronation Street as a full-time character, reintroduced by producer Kim Crowther. In November 2012, Gulati announced that she had quit the soap once more, this time permanently. Sunita died on 3 April 2013 as she succumbed to the injuries she sustained during the Rovers Return fire, caused by her illicit ex-lover Karl Munro.
Amber Kalirai is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Nikki Patel, the character first appeared on-screen during the episode airing on 9 November 2005. In May 2011 it was announced that Patel had returned to filming and Amber appeared again from 11 July 2011. Patel made her final appearance as Amber on 23 March 2012.
Tara Mandal is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, portrayed by Ayesha Dharker.
Mary Taylor is a fictional character from the British television ITV soap opera Coronation Street, portrayed by actress Patti Clare. The character first appeared on screen during the episode airing on 26 November 2008. Mary's storylines have included: trying to seduce Norris Cole and kidnapping him when he refuses to give her attention, yet later becoming close friends; falling in love with Dev Alahan ; an affair with Brendan Finch ; and revealing that she gave birth to a son after being raped when she was fourteen years old. Producers later introduced a new family for Mary consisting of son Jude Appleton, his wife Angie Appleton and a grandson. Mary is often used in comedic stories and Clare has won two comedy related awards for her portrayal of Mary.
Dr Matt Carter is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Oliver Mellor. He made his first on screen appearance on 20 August 2010. On 30 June 2013, Mellor revealed that he had quit the show and Matt would not appear again.
"East Street" is a charity crossover mini-episode between British soap operas Coronation Street and EastEnders. It was broadcast on 19 November 2010 as part of children's charity Children in Need's 2010 telethon on BBC One. Written by Daran Little, it stars several actors from both television shows, and depicts humorous encounters between their characters.
Stella Price is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by Michelle Collins. Collins' casting was announced in April 2011 and she began filming her scenes in May. The actress commuted from north London to Manchester for filming. Collins joined the show in order to have the financial security to ensure that her daughter could go to university. Collins, who is from Southern England and was previously well known for her role as Londoner, Cindy Beale on BBC's EastEnders, used a Northern accent for the role of Stella as Coronation Street is set in Manchester. She made her first on-screen appearance during the episode broadcast on 16 June 2011. Stella was introduced along with her boyfriend, Karl Munro, and her daughter, Eva. The following year, Stella’s mother, Gloria was also introduced. In August 2013, it was announced that Collins would be leaving the soap and she filmed her final scenes on 19 February 2014. Stella departed on 2 April 2014.
Karl Munro is a fictional character from the British ITV soap opera Coronation Street, played by John Michie. Michie's casting was announced in April 2011. He signed an initial one-year contract and began filming his scenes in May. Upon joining the cast, Michie was told that producers would initially "bed [him] in", before increasing his involvement in the show in 2012. Michie is from Scotland, but because Coronation Street is set in Manchester, he uses a Mancunian accent for the role. Karl was introduced along with his girlfriend, Stella Price and her daughter, Eva. Karl made his first appearance in the episode broadcast on 17 June 2011. On 30 April 2013, it was announced that Michie would be leaving Coronation Street. Karl departed during the episode broadcast on 13 September 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
