Being bequeathed with a name, that strikes a musical chord, pop singer, lyricist and composer Devang Patel, is certainly trying to live up to it. Today Devang Patel is acknowledged by not only in our country, but also by Indians living abroad. Confidently placed between the prospects of stardom with potential for higher growth up the ladder, Devang, this time is playing a different note, which is truly refreshing like his pop rap numbers. Devang looks like a commoner, but each time he strikes, he comes out with a magical mania, which has a whirl of colour and dazzles life.

This time Devang Patel promises to take you on a religious path with his Bhajans. Surprising from a man who was noticed for his rap numbers. With the spiritual blessings from Hon. Acharya Shree Tejendra Prasad Maharajshree, Devang Patel and his Devang Patel Entertainment are executing a mythological serial titled Jai Shree Swaminarayan. This serial is a journey on the life of Lord Swami Narayan, which includes places of worship and temples in India and abroad. Mulraj Rajda - the one who played Janak Raja in the popular television serial 'Ramayan', on his own screenplay and dialogue, directs this mythological serial on Bhagwan Swami Narayan with bhajans and keertans. Maya Govind pens the lyrics and Devang Patel himself, who even is the co-director of the serial, scores the musical composition. Vishal Pandey who hails from Kanpur plays the lead role of Swami Narayan. Sandip Patel (brother of Devang Patel) is also one of the executive producers of this mythological serial.

Looking back, Devang Patel has traversed a long way. Hailing from Gamdi village, near Ahmedabad, he completed his schooling and graduation in commerce over there and was supposed to take chartered accountancy as his profession. But destiny had different things stored for him. He was an avid listener of music on radio and tape recorder. Since childhood, he used to partake singing bhajans and aartis at the Swami Narayan Temple. Apart from this, acting in comedy dramas in his hey days was his hobby. But he never failed in attending all the dandiya raas, where he crooned merrily to the delight of Gujaratis in his hometown. Such was his popularity that he was almost a household name.

He cut his first Gujarati music album 'Dil Dilni Vaat' in 1993 along with longtime friends Prasad Thakkar, who is his music programmer (even in this audio album too) and Vinay Dave, his co writer till date. But marketing was a big hurdle and ultimately a local music company Jai Sound released the album for almost nothing. Dil Dilni Vaat recorded a sale of more than four lakh units, which indeed was a record-breaker in Gujarat. People were seen dancing to this rap number "Maadhuri Dixit mali rastama..." that was just the beginning and the success of the album prompted him to land in this tinsel town Mumbai. He approached Pravinbhai shah of Time Music and they brought out a Hindi version of the Gujarati album under the title 'Traffic Jam' (a Hindi version of Dil Dilni Vaat) in 1994. Followed by 'Meri Marzi' in 1995. Both the albums did record breaking business. Meanwhile, Time people were making a film titled 'Gambler' starring Govinda, and thereby he rendered one number each from both his albums for the film, viz; "Madhuri Dixit mili raste mein..." and "meri marzi...". In the midst of 1994-1995 he cut two Gujarati albums 'Booma Boom' and 'Jalsa' which again was a super-duper hit. Then to follow was another album 'Aaish Kar' in 1997 for ABCL. This seemed the only album to fill the coffers of the corporate firm and at the same time, Devang Patel was climbing starry heights. His numbers topped the musical charts. In 1998, the Bombinos released another album titled 'No Time', but it failed to evoke the desired response.

In 1999 Times Music signed a three-year contract with Devang Patel. In the year 2000, he delivered 'Patelscope - 1', followed by 'Patelscope - 2' in 2001. Both were top charters and had brought about a new wave in the music scenario. Patel terms his success to God Swami Narayan and all those people, including his Gujarati kins, who are instrumental to his success. He is happy working for the Times Group as he is given free hand to his music album. His 'Patelscope - 3' is in the pipeline and will be released sometime in October. He also has plans to extend his contract with Times for another 3 years. All his Hindi albums were also remade into Gujarati too. It is just like paying a tribute to his people.

In the midst of his musical journey, he also has sung one song for music director Anu Malik in a film titled 'Chahat' starring Shahrukh Khan. The song was also penned by Maya Govind and goes like this "Daddy cool..." that's not all. He is even anchoring a talent show on Etv Gujarati channel. Titled as 'Than Ghanat'.

Looking at his musical graph, he has been termed as "funny man of music". Young and old alike, dance to his tunes. Seems ironical for a man who never went to any singing classes or took coaching in music. He finds it a boredom to sit at the music class at a stretch for 3 / 4 hours. So he bought himself a harmonium and mastered it himself. Every song of his reflects common people's thoughts. Brimming with confidence and satisfaction are his tools for success.

As you prod Devang Patel further, he pulls out another cat out of his bag. He has even done two ad commercials. One was for NECC on eggs... 'Sunday ho ya monday roz khawo aande' and the other was for Amarsons clothiers situated at Bandra, a suburb in Mumbai. The interesting part is apart from singing and scoring jingles; he has even featured in them. Looks like he has this love for acting too. On prompting still further he gives his mischievous smile and adds a nod and adds in the same breath that he would love to act in the lead and do comedy roles - like those of Govinda.

On his future plans, he is making a song for N Chandra's film titled 'Excuse Me', which will be an item number. Hold your breath, his acting dream also seems to be coming true. He is playing a lead role in a film titled 'Smile Please', which is being written and produced by his longtime friend lmtiaz Patel and directed by Yunus Patel. Devang Patel will provide the entire musical part and the film will roll in January 2003 with song recordings.

Hail the versatile and multifaceted singer-composer-lyricist-actor and… Devang Patel, is the rising star on the horizon.