He was born on 6 November 1917, at Gujranwala, Punjab (now in Pakistan), British India. He studied in Lahore, where he became interested in journalism and started editing a film magazine in Urdu, Jagat Lakshmi. One of the local distributors he met was Tarachand Barjatya, who was then the Manager of Chandanmal Inder Kumar's distribution office at Lahore. Through his connection with Barjatya he landed in Calcutta, and in 1939, made his acting debut as Puran in the Punjabi language feature film Puran Bhagat (1939). His second film Mera Maahi (1941) was also a Punjabi film, directed by Shankar Mehta at Lahore and starring Ragini and Manorama. This was the movie in which he sang songs for the first time in the movies under the baton of legendary music director Shyam Sunder. B. R. Chopra, then working as a film journalist in Lahore, helped Karan Dewan to get in touch with Devika Rani, who invited Dewan to come to Bombay. When this did not help Dewan get films, he taught "Urdu pronunciation to actors and actresses".
In 1944, Karan Dewan acted in Rattan, a musical romantic drama, directed by M. Sadiq, which became one of the most popular films of that year. "A tremendous hit", it paired Dewan with Swarnalata. The music director was Naushad, who gave a break to all the singers in the film; Zohrabai Ambalewali, Amirbai Karnataki, Rajkumari (of Varanasi), Tun Tun (as Uma Devi) and including Dewan himself. The songs of the film became popular.The song "Saawan Ke Baadalon" (O Monsoon Clouds), sung by Dewan and Zohrabai Ambalewali, and picturised on Dewan and Swarnalata, became famous as the pair's "signature" song. Gaali (1944) was a social film, written and directed by Rama Chowdhary, for producer Nanubhai Desai, under his N. R. Desai Productions banner. It co-starred Dewan with Manjula and Yakub. In 1945, Bhai Jan was a successful Muslim social family melodrama, which starred Dewan with Noor Jehan, Shah Nawaz, Meena (Shorey) and Anees Khatoon. The music was composed by Shyam Sunder. Another Muslim social, which was a big success the same year, especially for its leading lady Noor Jehan, was Zeenat. Directed by Shaukat Hussain Rizvi, it had music by Mir Saheb with several popular songs sung by Noor Jehan. In 1947, Nargis, Begum Para and Dewan starred in Mehndi, directed by S. Faizal. 1948 had Dewan acting in films such as Phir Bhi Apna Hai, Chand Chakori with Swarnalata, and Piya Ghar Aja with Meena Kumari. Piya Ghar Aja was a social film directed by Prahlad Dutt for Ranjit Movietone. It co-starred Dewan with Meena Kumari, Aga Jan and S. N. Tripathi, with music composed by Bulo C Rani. The film was stated to be a "clean picture from Ranjit" free from "cheapness and vulgarity". Meena Kumari, who was then working in her second film as a lead, was praised for her acting. Chaman (Garden, 1948), the first post-PartitionPunjabi film in India, directed by Roop Shorey, and starring Karan Dewan, Meena Shorey and Kuldip Kaur, became a major hit. The "melodious" music by composer Vinod became "instantly popular". Duniya (1949), directed by S. F. Hasnain, under the Fazli Brothers banner, had music by C. Ramchandra and starred Suraiya with Karan Dewan, Yakub, and Shakila. Lahore(1949), a film based on the effect partition had on people, had Dewan co-star with Nargis. It was produced by his brother Jaimani Dewan.
With Apna Ghar in 1960, Dewan was relegated to playing supporting characters. The film was directed by Ram Pahwa and had Prem Nath, Shyama and Nanda in main roles. The music director was Ravi. Some of his important films during this period included Shaheed (1965), Aamne Samne (1967), Jeene Ki Raah (1969), Maa Aur Mamta (1970), Nadaan(1971), Shehzada (1972), Jalte Badan (1973), Kala Sona (1975), Bhanwar (1976) and Atmaram (1979).
Dewan married actress-singer Manju, who had earlier worked in Aadmi and its (original) Marathi version Manoos in 1939, in a character role. She worked for six years in films, and after acting in Dewan's most famous film Rattan, the two got married and she stopped working.
Dewan died on 2 August 1979, in Mumbai, Maharashtra.
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