Mahanadi Shankar is an Indian stage, film and television actor, who has appeared in Tamil language films and serials as supporting actor and negative roles. He has appeared in films including Mahanadi (1994), Baashha (1995), Ratchagan (1997), Amarkalam (1999) and Dheena (2001). The success of the former film, meant that he used the title as a prefix to his stagename.

Career
After making his debut as an actor in Mahanadi (1994), Shankar has worked in several Tamil films in the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s as a supporting actor, often as an antagonist or a comedy villain. In the movie Dheena, he used to Call Ajith Kumar As "Thala". Henceforth Ajith Kumar is called as "Thala" by his fans.