 Shivaji Dev made his debut, credited as Junior Sivaji, in Venkatesh's masala film "Singakutty" (2008), starring alongside Gowri Munjal.The film opened to negative reviews from critics and fared poorly at the box office.In 2009 he joined Balu Mahendra's film institute and undertook a specialized acting course for a year and then started acting in theatrical plays.