Prakash Raj was born in 1965 in Mangalore, Karnataka. The actor’s mother tongue is Tulu. He studied at St. Joseph’s School and later graduated in commerce from Bangalore. He was a good debater and also received the President’s Scout Award.

Prakash Raj started his career with Doordarshan and later supporting roles in Kannada films. His Debut was ‘Duet’ for which he changed his surname from ‘Rai’ to ‘Raj’. His supporting role in Tamil movie ‘Iruvar’ fetched him his first award.

The actor has executed a variety of roles in Telugu. He has been a part of movies like ‘Badri,’ ‘Okkadu,’ ‘Tagore,’ ‘Varsham,’ ‘Arjun ,’ ‘Bunny,’ ‘Pokiri,’ ‘Bommarilu,’ ‘Athadu,’ ‘Jagadam,’ ‘Josh,’ ‘Jalsa,’ ‘Koncham Istam Koncham Kastam’ and the list continues. ‘Okkadu’ is as one of his greatest hits.

The actor was honoured with the Best Actor National award for the film ‘Kanchivaram’(Tamil). He has also been a director and producer. His movies are popular family entertainers with natural storylines. He himself is a natural actor.