Prakash Raj is a well-known actor, director, producer and TV presenter from South India. He comes from a middle class, Kannada speaking family. Born as Prakash Rai in Bengaluru on 26 March, 1965, the popular artist completed his schooling from St. Joseph's Boys' High School, Bengaluru and then graduated from St. Joseph's College of Commerce, Bengaluru. The talented actor began his career on Kannada television. With growing recognition and popularity, he started getting offers to do supporting roles in Kannada films. His breakthrough role came when he played a role in Kannada film Harakeya Kuri (1992) with Geetha. His performances started getting him attention from other regional film industries as well. His co-star Geetha introduced Raj to Tamil Director K Balachander, who not only advised him to adopt the screen name of Prakash Raj, but also cast him in Tamil film Duet (1994) in a significant role. Back home, Raj worked in Kannada film Nagamandala (1997), which was selected for the Indian Panorama in the International Film Festival in 1997. In the same year, he was seen in Mani Ratnam's biopic Iruvar (1997). His performance in the movie got him the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor.

The actor, who is fluent in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi and Marathi, then went on to explore the Hindi film industry. And with movies like Wanted (2009), Singham (2011), Dabangg 2 (2012), Mumbai Mirror (2013) and Policegiri (2013), he gained immense popularity with the Hindi audience as well.

He turned producer with the film Abhiyum Naanum (2008) and also played an important role in it. He remade the film in Kannada as Naanu Nanna Kanasu (2010). Then he donned the cap of a director and he directed multilingual films including Oggarane (2014), Ulavacharu Biryani (2014) and Un Samayal Arayil (2014) in Kannada, Telugu and Tamil respectively. All these films opened to positive reviews and the critics and the masses appreciated this new director’s fresh outlook.

The seasoned actor is also involved in a lot of humanitarian work. He has adopted the Kondareddipalle village in the Mahabubnagar District in Telangana.

He is married to the popular dance choreographer Pony Verma.

Prakash Raj has also had his share of controversies, due to his apparent irreverence and disregard for rules. Yet, one cannot deny his immense talent, and his fan following has only been increasing. With him reprising villainous roles in his latest releases like Heropanti (2014), the multilingual actor continues to make his mark on the Indian film industry.