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Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi-language films, he is the recipient of several accolades, including five National Film Awards, eight Nandi Awards, eight Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, five Filmfare Awards South, four SIIMA Awards, three CineMAA Awards, and three Vijay Awards. Apart from his mother tongue Kannada, Raj's fluency in Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, Hindi, English, Tulu and Marathi has placed him among the most sought after actors in Indian cinema.

After working in stage shows and television in Kannada for a few years, Raj ventured into films. 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.

A polyglot, he 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 Mention for the Telugu film Antahpuram, directed by Krishna Vamsi in 1998 and a National Film Award for Best Actor in 2007 for his role in Kanchivaram, a Tamil film directed by Priyadarshan.

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. Suresha in 2011. Prakash was also the host of Neengalum Vellalam Oru Kodi during the show's second season.

Personal life
Prakash Raj was born in Bangalore on 26 March 1965 to a Tuluva father and a Kannada mother.

His brother is Prasad Raj, who is also an actor. He completed schooling at St. Joseph's Indian High School and joined St. Joseph's College of Commerce, Bangalore. Actress Geetha introduced Prakash Raj to prominent Tamil film director K. Balachander. Prakash Raj changed his surname from 'Rai' to 'Raj' upon 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 who died in 2004. The couple divorced in 2009.

Later, he married choreographer Pony Verma on 24 August 2010. They have a son, Vedhanth born in 2015.

Prakash Raj identifies himself as an atheist.