Prakash Raj is a polyglot Indian film actor, film director, producer, thespian and television presenter who is known for his works in the South Indian film industry, and a few Bollywood films. He acted in back-to-back stage shows for 300 a month in the initial stages of his career when he joined Kalakshetra, Bengaluru, and he has 2,000 street theatre performances to his credit.
After working in...Prakash Raj is a polyglot Indian film actor, film director, producer, thespian and television presenter who is known for his works in the South Indian film industry, and a few Bollywood films. He acted in back-to-back stage shows for 300 a month in the initial stages of his career when he joined Kalakshetra, Bengaluru, and he has 2,000 street theatre performances to his credit.
After working in the Kannada television industry and Kannada cinema for a few years, he made his debut in Tamil cinema through Duet (1994) by K. Balachander and has since been a commercially successful film star in Tamil. In remembrance, he named his production company Duet Movies. Prakash has also worked in a number of Bollywood films.
Apart from his mother tongue Kannada, Prakash's fluency in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Hindi and English has placed him among the most sought after actors in Indian cinema. He has played a variety of roles, most notably as the antagonist and, of late, as a character actor. Prakash, as an actor has won a National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1998 for Mani Ratnam's Iruvar, a National Film Award Special Jury Award / Special Mention (Feature Film) for a Telugu film Antahpuram directed by Krishna Vamsi in 1998[9] and a National Film Award for Best Actor in 2009 for his role in Kanchivaram, a Tamil film directed by Priyadarshan, and as a producer has won a National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada for Puttakkana Highway directed by his long-time theatre friend B. Suresh in 2011. Prakash was also the host of Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi during the show's second season.
Prakash Raj was born in Bengaluru, Karnataka on 26 March 1965 to a Tulu speaking father Manjunath Rai and a Kannadiga mother Swarnalatha in a lower-middle-class Kannada speaking family. His brother is Prasad Raj who is also an actor. He completed schooling at St. Joseph's Boys' High School, Bangalore and joined St. Joseph's College of Commerce, Bangalore. Prakash Rai changed his name to Prakash Raj based on prominent Tamil film director K. Balachander's advice; he is still called Prakash Rai in his home state Karnataka.
Prakash Raj married actress Lalitha Kumari in 1994. They have two daughters, Meghana and Pooja, and a son Sidhu. The couple divorced in 2009.
He married choreographer Pony Verma on 24 August 2010.
Prakash began his acting career with Doordarshan serials like Bisilu Kudure (Kannada) and Guddada Bhootha (Tulu and Kannada). He later took up supporting roles in Kannada films like Raamachari, Ranadheera, Nishkarsha and Lockup Death. He was noticed for his dialogue delivery and histrionics. His breakthrough role came in Harakeya Kuri, directed by K. S. L. Swamy starring Vishnuvardhan with whom he had acted in other films like Mithileya Seetheyaru, Muthina Haara and Nishkarsha. His performance was noticed by Geetha, the lead heroine of the film who introduced Prakash to her mentor K. Balachander, a Tamil director. He acted under the screen name "Prakash Rai" in Kannada films and was rechristened "Prakash Raj" by K. Balachander for his debut Tamil film Duet, which saw him playing his first major role.
