Devan Nair began his career as a cine journalist with his first publication in 1983 in the Malaysian-based film magazine, Movieland. He was a key content contributor for the South African edition of Movieland published by Roopanands.

In 1995 he joined Lotus FM as a freelance presenter and producer for two radio shows dealing with Tamil films and music. In 1999 he joined The Sunday Times as a freelance movie critic, reviewing Tamil films and covering Tamil film news. He held this position until The Sunday Times stopped publishing this section in 2014. During this time, he published the e-newsletter, Udhayam and maintained a blog. He was also the presenter of South Indian content on Saffron TV.

After a hiatus from the public eye, he joined Southside FM as a producer and presenter in May 2022, a position he held until 10 November 2024