Rahul Dev Kaushal is an Indian actor and former model born on 27 September 1968 in New Delhi, India, into a Punjabi Hindu Brahmin family with ancestral roots in Jalandhar district, Punjab. His father, Hari Dev, was an Assistant Commissioner of Police who passed away in April 2019. He attended St. Columba's School, Delhi, and studied at Delhi University. He is the elder brother of the late actor Mukul Dev (1970–2025). His wife, Reena Dev, passed away in 2009; he has one son. After years of struggling in the entertainment industry, he won the Gladrags Manhunt 1994 title, which opened doors to acting. He made his Bollywood debut as the primary villain Bhairav in Champion (2000), opposite Sunny Deol — a performance that was so menacing it earned him a Filmfare Award nomination for Best Performance in a Negative Role. He went on to play a series of iconic antagonist roles across multiple South Indian languages: as Pratap Chandra Sinha in the Telugu blockbuster Tagore (2003, opposite Chiranjeevi), and villains in Telugu films Kushi, Raghavendra, and Pokiri. His Bollywood credits also include Kaante (2002, alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, and Suniel Shetty), Shootout at Wadala (2013), Murder 3 (2013), and Begum Jaan (2017). He has also appeared in Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, and Odia films, making him one of Bollywood's most prolific multilingual character actors. In October 2016, he entered Bigg Boss 10 on Colors TV. He formed close bonds with Rohan Mehra and Lopamudra Raut during his stay. He was eliminated in Week 9 (Day 62), finishing eleventh.

Winning the Gladrags Manhunt 1994 title, which launched his entertainment career; his Bollywood debut as the terrifying villain Bhairav in Champion (2000) opposite Sunny Deol, for which he received a Filmfare Award nomination for Best Performance in a Negative Role; his roles as the antagonist in Telugu films Tagore (2003, opposite Chiranjeevi) and Kushi (opposite Pawan Kalyan); his role in Kaante (2002) alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Sanjay Dutt, and Suniel Shetty; finishing eleventh in Bigg Boss 10 (2016–17).

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