Personal info
Known for

Actor

Gender

Male

Birthday

26 March

Location

Karnataka, India

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Prakash Raj

Biography

Prakash Raj is an established actor, producer, director, and television presenter in the Indian film industry. He is known for his works in South Indian and Hindi films.

Starting in the early 90s, he went on to appear in about 400 films. He has received several awards and accolades in his career, spanning more than three decades.

Raj was born in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India, to Manjunath Rai and Swarnalatha Raj. Actor Prasad Raj is his brother. His original name is Prakash Rai. He started using the surname Raj instead of Rai on the advice of director K. Balachander.

Raj studied at St. Joseph's Indian High School and St. Joseph's College of Commerce in Bengaluru. His first brush with acting was in a play he did in seventh grade. Later, when he was in college, he began acting in theatre but didn't think much about it.

His love for stage shows developed after he started going to Kalakshetra in Bengaluru and participating in theatre rehearsals. He used to perform in back-to-back stage shows for a meager monthly payment of Rs. 300. After performing in 2,000 street theatre shows, he felt the urge to explore bigger opportunities in this field.

His journey into the acting world started with television. He also worked in the film industry as an assistant director and editor, then got the opportunity to act in films.

Raj started his acting career on television with serials like Guddada Bhootha (Kannada and Tulu) and Bisilu Kudure (Kannada) that were aired on Doordarshan. Later, he started acting in Kannada movies in supporting roles.

His performance in Harakeya Kuri (1992) caught the attention of the movie's lead actress Geetha. She introduced Raj to director K. Balachander, who gave him the scope to play a major role in his Tamil film Duet (1994).

After appearing in a few more Tamil and Kannada movies, he made his debut in Telugu cinema in 1995 with Sankalpam (1995). The same year, he appeared in Mani Ratnam's Tamil romantic drama Bombay (1995). It featured among the top 20 Indian movies in the rankings of the British Film Institute.

Raj ventured into Malayalam cinema in 1996 with The Prince (1996), helmed by Suresh Krishna. He played an antagonist in K. Balachander's Kalki (1996), for which he won the Tamil Nadu State Film Award 1996 for Best Villain.

After acting in a few more movies, such as Priyam (1996), Pavitra Bandham (1996), Alexander (1996), Suswagatham (1997), and Hitler (1997), he appeared in Mani Ratnam's political drama Iruvar (1997). The film revolves around the relationship between two politicians. Raj received the National Film Award 1997 for Best Supporting Actor for his performance.

He then appeared in a prominent role in T.S. Nagabharana's film Nagamandala (1997), which was among the selected movies for the International Film Festival of India in 1997 under the Indian Panorama.

He continued to appear in several other movies before playing a pivotal role in Anthahpuram (1998). The film revolves around a feudal society. Raj won the National Film Award 1998 for Best Actor (Special Jury) for his performance.

In Vaanavil (2000), Raj played the role of an antagonist, which earned him the Tamil Nadu State Film Award 2000 for Best Villain.

He essayed the role of Kaala Bhairavan in the Indian fantasy drama Little John (2001). He was seen in a supporting role in the war film Kannathil Muthamittal (2002). He won the ITFA Best Supporting Actor Award in 2003 for portraying the character of Dr. Herold Vikramesinghe in the film.

In 2004, he acted in Rajkumar Santoshi's Hindi thriller action movie Khakee (2004), starring Amitabh Bachchan, Ajay Devgn, Akshay Kumar, Atul Kulkarni, and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. The film revolved around an Indian police team and its assignment involving an accused terrorist. Raj played the role of a corrupt ACP in the movie.

He essayed the character of DCP Prabhakar in Anniyan (2005), a psychological thriller helmed by S. Shankar. The story revolved around a disillusioned common man and his multiple personality disorder. He received the Tamil Nadu State Film Award 2005 for Best Villain for his performance in this movie.

Raj was then seen in the role of a silk weaver in Priyadarshan's period drama film Kanchivaram (2008), starring opposite Shreya Reddy. The film highlighted the miserable condition of silk weavers as they struggled through life in Kanchipuram. 

 

It was screened at the 33rd Toronto International Film Festival held in 2008. He won the National Film Award 2007 for Best Actor and the Filmfare Award 2009 for Best Actor in Tamil for his acting in the movie.

He appeared in the role of a villain in several Bollywood films as well, including Wanted (2009), Singham (2011), Dabangg 2 (2012), and Mumbai Mirror (2013).

In Singham, he played the role of a powerful politician cum criminal who creates problems for the protagonist police officer. He won the Zee Cine Award 2012 for Best Actor in a Negative Role for this movie.

In 2015, he starred with Kamal Hassan in the pacy action thriller Thoongaa Vanam (2015). He then appeared in T.J. Gnanavel's legal drama Jai Bhim (2021). He went on to feature in films like Sita Ramam (2022) and Ponniyin Selvan: Part I (2022).

Raj was previously married to actress Lalitha Kumari. The couple legally separated in 2009. They have two daughters, Pooja and Meghna. They also had a son named Sidhu, who passed away in 2004. Raj married Pony Prakash Raj Verma, a choreographer, in 2010. Their son Vedhanth was born in 2015.

 

 

Ex-wife actress Lalita Kumari is the sister of actress Disco Shanti.

Actor
2024

Kanguva as Mahelwan

2024

Utsavam as Abhimanyu Narayan

2024

Purushothamudu as Raghu Ram

2024

Raayan as

2024

Guntur Kaaram as Venkata Swamy

2023

Varisu as Jayaprakash

2022

Thiruchitrambalam as Inspector Neelakandan

2022

Sita Ramam as Brig. YK Joshi

2022

Major as K. Unnikrishnan

2022

K.G.F: Chapter 2 as Vijayendra Ingalgi

2021

Navarasa (Season 1) as Sivaraman

2020

Paava Kadhaigal (Season 1) as Janakiraman

2020

Sarileru Neekevvaru as Yeddula Nagendra

2018

Hello Guru Prema Kosame as Viswanath

2018

Goodachari as Satya

2018

Bharat Ane Nenu as Varadarajulu

2018

Rangasthalam as Dakshina Murthy

2017

Golmaal Again as Vasu Reddy

2015

Rudhramadevi as Mahamantri Shiva Devayya

2015

O Kadhal Kanmani as Ganapathy

2014

Govindudu Andarivadele as Balaraju

2014

Race Gurram as Bheem Prakash

2013

Zanjeer as Teja

2013

Ongole Gittha as Adikeshavulu

2013

Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu as Relangi Mavayya

2012

Dabangg 2 as Thakur Bachchalal Singh

2012

Businessman as Jai Dev

2011

Oosaravelli as Ajju Bhai

2011

Dookudu as Shankar Narayana

2011

Badrinath as Bhishma Narayana

2010

Orange as Abhishek Verma

2010

Khaleja as G.K

2008

Kantri as Pothuraju, Prakash Raj

2008

Parugu as Neelakanta

2007

Chirutha as Karthikeya

2007

Jagadam as Guest Role

2007

Pokkiri as Ali Bhai

2006

Rakhi as Judge

2006

Sainikudu as Mondi Nani

2006

Ashok as Ashok's father

2006

Aathi as Aathi's Father

2005

Athadu as CBI officer Anjaneya Prasad

2005

Bunny as Somaraju

2004

Arjun as Bala

2004

Samba as Pasupathi Naidu

2004

Ghilli as Muthu Pandi

2004

Khakee as ACP Shrikant Naidu

2003

Nijam as CBI officer

2003

Gangotri as Neelakantha Naidu

2003

Okkadu as Obul Reddy

2002

Bobby as Yadagiri

2002

Indra as Governor Chenna Keshava Reddy

1999

Raja Kumarudu as Dhanunjay

1997

Iruvar as Tamil Selvam