PRAKASH RAJ

                                                     PRAKASH RAJ

Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai on 26 March 1965) is an Indian film actor, film director, producer, thespian and television presenter who is known for his works in the South Indian film industry, and 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 the 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, Tulu, 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 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 he 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 Rai 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 Family. His brother is Prasad Rai 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 had two daughters, Meghana and Pooja, and a son Sidhu. The couple divorced in 2009. He married choreographer Pony Verma on 24 August 2010. They have a son, Vedhanth.