Prakash Raj

Prakash Raj, born as Prakash Rai on 26 March 1965 in Puttur, Karnataka, is an Indian film actor, director, producer and television presenter, who mainly works in the South Indian film industry. After working in the Kannada cinema for a few years, he entered Tamil film industry, through K. Balachander in his movie Duet (1994). In remembrance, he named his production company Duet Movies.He has played a variety of roles, most notably as the antagonist and of late, as a character actor. He has won a National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1998 for Mani Ratnam's Iruvar and a National Film Award for Best Actor in 2009 for his role in Kanchivaram, a Tamil film directed by Priyadarshan.Prakash Raj is also the host of Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi from the game show's second season onwards.Prakash was born to an Bunt family in Puttur, Karnataka on 26 March 1965. He completed schooling at St. Joseph's Boys' High School, Bangalore and later 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, however he is still called Prakash Rai in his home town Karnataka.Prakash married actress Lalitha Kumari in 1994. They have two daughters—Meghana and Pooja and a son, Sidhu.Sidhu died of injuries sustained in a fall in 2004.The couple divorced in 2009.He married choreographer Pony Verma on August 24, 2010