Prakash Raj started his career as a villain
Actor Prakash Raj had the Internet collectively smiling on Wednesday when he shared on social media that he had married his wife, Pony Verma, once more at the request of his son, Vedhant. The doting father received praise for the lovely gesture from fans who celebrated the occasion with him. He was also joined by his daughters with his former wife Lalitha Kumari — Meghana and Pooja — for the celebrations. And, we thought what better occasion to look back on the unique achievements of Prakash Raj, in his professional and personal life, than this special day.
As Prakash Raj is winning praise for being a doting dad in real life, it would not be wrong to say that he has played just about every kind of “father” there is on the parenting spectrum, in his movies. From the controlling dad in the iconic Bommarillu to the parent who values honour over humanity on Paava Kadhaigal, Prakash Raj has done it all. He even bagged the National Award in Kanchivaram for his role as a helpless father forced to commit an unforgivable sin in the face of abject poverty and a paralysed daughter.
However, Prakash Raj has proved several times that while he excels at playing the dad on screen, he is so much more than just that. After beginning his career in Kannada television shows, the actor proved his mettle in his first movie, the Tamil film, Duet, in 1994. Having started his career as a villain, the actor followed this up with a bunch of movies where he played the bad guy you love to hate across multiple film industries.
Prakash Raj's acceptance across languages was also helped greatly by the fact that he is a polyglot. The actor, born as Prakash Rai in Karnataka, is fluent in Kannada, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Hindi, and English. Thanks to this, he has also won the National Award for his work in various languages. His first win — as a supporting actor — came for Mani Ratnam's 1998 film, Iruvar. He also received a Special Mention for the Telugu film Antahpuram. This was followed by his win for Kanchivaram and an award as a producer for the Kannada film Puttakkana Highway.
His act as a comedic yet menacing villain in Salman Khan's Wanted exposed him to viewers outside of the five southern states, making him the country's favourite “bad guy” ever since.
When Prakash Raj is not directing, producing, or acting, he is involved in humanitarian work. The actor has adopted villages in Telangana and Karnataka and has been actively involved in developmental activities in the areas.
Taking his interest in social work forward, he had also contested in the 2019 general elections.