Actor, producer, director and writer · Telugu cinema
Prakash Raj
Prakash Raj movies: 173 Telugu films on file (173 as actor, 4 as producer, 2 as director, 2 as writer), 1995–2027. Earliest on file: Sankalpam (1995). Latest release: Dacoit: A Love Story (10 April 2026). Next: Varanasi (7 April 2027).
- Films on file
- 173 (173 as actor, 4 as producer, 2 as director, 2 as writer)
- Years on file
- 1995–2027
- Born
- 26 March 1965 · March birthdays (Wikidata)
- Selected films on file
- Pokiri, Businessman, Mahanati
- Record
- Q1322453 on Wikidata
Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai) is an Indian actor, director, producer and television presenter who works in Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi films. He began as a villain and later became one of South India’s most in-demand character actors. We have 168 Telugu films on record for him. His honours include five National Film Awards, eight Nandi Awards and six Filmfare Awards South.
He was born on 26 March 1965, according to Wikipedia and Wikidata. Wikipedia says he was born in Bangalore to a Tuluva father and a Kannadiga mother; Wikidata lists Puttur as his birthplace. He studied at St. Joseph’s College of Commerce, Bangalore, and worked in theatre and Kannada television before films. Director K. Balachander suggested he change his surname from “Rai” to “Raj”.
Career
After Kannada roles and his breakthrough in Harakeya Kuri (1992), he made his Tamil debut in Balachander’s Duet (1994), and later named his production company Duet Movies after it. He won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for Mani Ratnam’s Iruvar (1997) and a National Film Award Special Mention for Krishna Vamsi’s Telugu film Antahpuram (1998). He went on to win the National Award for Best Actor for Priyadarshan’s Kanchivaram (2007).
In Telugu he became a fixture of big-star films, often as the antagonist. His Telugu Filmfare and Nandi wins came for films such as Gunshot, Azad, Nuvve Nuvve and Khadgam (2002), Gangotri, Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi and Tagore (2003), Bommarillu (2006), Dookudu (2011) and Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu (2013). His other Telugu films include Businessman (2012), Race Gurram (2014), Temper and S/O Satyamurthy (2015), Rangasthalam, Bharat Ane Nenu and Mahanati (2018), and Sarileru Neekevvaru (2020). Speaking about his frequent work with Mahesh Babu, he once asked, “Why am I in Mahesh’s nine films out of his ten?”
Krishna Vamsi’s Rangamarthanda (2023) won him the Filmfare Critics Award for Best Actor – Telugu. Recent films include Guntur Kaaram and Devara: Part 1 (2024) and They Call Him OG (2025). He has also directed films in Kannada, Telugu and Tamil, among them Ulavacharu Biryani (2014). As a producer he won the National Award for Best Feature Film in Kannada for Puttakkana Highway. In 2019 he contested the Bengaluru Central Lok Sabha seat as an independent and lost.
Awards
- National Film Awards: Best Supporting Actor (Iruvar), Special Mention (Antahpuram; 46th National Film Awards), Special Jury Award (Dhaya), Best Actor (Kanchivaram; PIB) and Best Feature Film in Kannada as producer (Puttakkana Highway).
- Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor – Telugu for Nuvve Nuvve and Tagore (Wikipedia winners list).
- Nandi Awards: Best Supporting Actor for Khadgam, Bommarillu, Dookudu and Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu (list); Best Character Actor for Antahpuram, Azad and Amma Nanna O Tamila Ammayi (list); Best Villain for Gunshot and Gangotri (list).
- SIIMA Award for Best Supporting Actor – Telugu for Dookudu (list).
The full record is on Wikipedia’s awards page for Prakash Raj.
Upcoming films
Varanasi, S. S. Rajamouli’s film with Mahesh Babu, is on our records with Prakash Raj in the cast. It is recorded for 7 April 2027. New films appear on upcoming Telugu movies as they are recorded.
Where to watch his films
With 168 Telugu titles, streaming details vary film by film; each film page carries its own OTT record. Recent examples on file:
- They Call Him OG: Netflix, from 23 October 2025, per Wikipedia (OTT details)
- Devara: Part 1: Netflix, from 8 November 2024, per Wikipedia (OTT details)
- Guntur Kaaram: Netflix, from 9 February 2024, per Wikipedia (OTT details)
- Sarileru Neekevvaru: Prime Video, from 1 March 2020, per Wikipedia (OTT details)
- Rangasthalam: Prime Video, from 12 May 2018, per Wikipedia (OTT details)
Personal life
He married the choreographer Pony Verma on 24 August 2010, according to Wikipedia, citing Supergoodmovies. He was earlier married to the actress Lalitha Kumari, from 1994 to 2009.
Sources: Wikipedia and the references it cites (linked above), Wikidata, and Tollywood Desk’s film, release and OTT records.
Career on file
Prakash Raj has 173 Telugu films on file at Tollywood Desk, dated from 1995 to 2027: 173 films as actor, four films as producer, two films as director and two films as writer. The earliest of them is Sankalpam (1995), and the most recent release is Dacoit: A Love Story (2026). One more film, Varanasi (2027), is dated for later. The most widely covered of these, counted by Wikipedia language editions, are Pokiri (2006), Businessman (2012) and Mahanati (2018). Other recent releases on file are S Saraswathi (2026), Seetha Payanam (2026) and Champion (2025).
Brahmanandam is the most frequent co-star, sharing 71 films with Prakash Raj, followed by Kota Srinivasa Rao (25) and Mahesh Babu (19). Among directors, Puri Jagannadh cast Prakash Raj most often, in 13 films; next are Krishna Vamsi (10) and Gunasekhar (7). Music on 36 of them is by Mani Sharma, with Devi Sri Prasad (23) and S. Thaman (13) next. Sri Venkateswara Creations produced 19 of them, more than any other banner on file. Across these films the credits on file name 88 different directors, 51 music directors and 327 other credited actors.
Runtime is on file for 136 of them; they average 154 minutes, and the longest is Nijam at 196 minutes. 50 of them have a streaming (OTT) release noted on the site. By decade the list splits into 1990s (14), 2000s (73), 2010s (62) and 2020s (24).
Figures come from the films on file at Tollywood Desk and change as records are added.