
Prashanth Thiagarajan, or popularly known by his screen name Prashanth, is an
Indian movie actor known for his works predominantly in
Tamil Cinema. Referred to as "Top Star" by his fans, he has also acted in a few
Telugu,
Malayalam and
Bollywood films. He made his cinematic debut at the age of 17, as a leading romantic hero in the 1990 Tamil drama film Vaigasi Poranthachu, directed by Radha Bharathi. The film was a commercial success and also brought Prashanth the
Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut - South. The actor went on to feature in other films including Balu Mahendra's Vanna Vanna Pookkal, R. K. Selvamani's Tamil-Telugu bilingual Chembaruthi and
Mani Ratnam's
action comedy Thiruda Thiruda. He rose to stardom with Shankar's blockbuster romantic comedy Jeans, in which he played a dual role alongside
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan. The movie was a huge turning point in his career. In the late 90s, he featured in a series of films such as Kannedhirey Thondrinal, Kaadhal Kavithai and Jodi. Apart from movies, Prashanth is also an
entrepreneur who owns a 12-storeyed jewellery mart in Panagal Park, Chennai, since 2008.
Career of Prashanth

Born on April 6, 1973 in
Chennai,
Tamil Nadu, Prashanth is the son of
Tamil actor,
director and
producer Thiagarajan. He started off as a leading romantic hero in the 1990 Tamil drama film Vaigasi Poranthachu, directed by Radha Bharathi, which was a box office success and garnered Prashanth the Filmfare Award for Best Male Debut - South. He subsequently appeared in the Malayalam film Perumthachan, where he played the son of the titular character. In 1992, he acted in the Tamil film Vanna Vanna Pookkal, which was another commercial success completing 100 days run and won the
National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil at the 39th
National Film Awards. The same year, he acted in films Chembaruthi and Unakkaga Piranthen, along with the Hindi remake of his debut Vaigasi Poranthachu, titled I Love You, reprising his role. He also made his Telugu debut with the Laati, alongside late actor Raghuvaran in the lead. He was seen in the Tamil film Enga Thambi in 1993, alongside Subhashri in the lead. It opened to mixed reviews with Prashanths performance being praised. He acted in the Telugu remake of Indra Kumars 1990 Bollywood hit film Dil, titled Tholi Muddhu.
He also worked in Mani Ratnams Tamil action comedy Thiruda Thiruda that opened to positive critical reception but failed to do well at the box office. In 1994, the film was premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and achieved cult status over the following years.
Prashanth next acted in films Kanmani, Sendhamizh Selvan, Kalloori Vaasal and Krishna. In 1998, he featured in S. Shankars Tamil romantic comedy Jeans, alongside Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Nassar in the lead. The most expensive film to be made in
Indian cinema at the time, it was immensely successful and eventually dubbed into
Hindi and
Telugu and released with the same title. It became Indias official entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the
Academy Awards for 1998. He was later seen in films Kaadhal Kavithai, Poomagal Oorvalam and Hello in the late 90s and films Good Luck, Appu, Parthen Rasithen, Star and Chocolate in the early 2000s. In 2002, he appeared in director Haris debut film Thamizh, an action drama that opened to positive reviews and became a box office hit. He also featured in Susi Ganeshans romantic film Virumbugiren, which also won critical acclaim. Sundar Cs action comedy Winner where he featured in the lead also received positive reviews. The actor followed it up with action film Jai and his fathers production Shock, a supernatural thriller and remake of
Ram Gopal Varmas 2003 Hindi film
Bhoot, both of which received positive reception but only the latter was a box office success.

Prashanth subsequently acted in action film Aayudham which received average reviews, and comedy film London that was met with positive reviews and was remade in Hindi as Golmaal: Fun Unlimited by
Rohit Shetty. In the mid 2000s, Prashanth had signed several projects which were shelved after being launched. In September 2004, Thiagarajan launched Police, a remake of the Hindi film Khakee and the film received coverage from the media after producers had approached
Amitabh Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai for key roles. In interviews during the period, Thiagarajan mentioned the grand scale of the project citing that schedules would also be shot abroad, however the film failed to progress. In December 2005, Prashanth accepted and started work in R. K. Selvamanis Pulan Visaranai 2, a sequel to the director's 1990 blockbuster Pulan Visaranai, with the trailer released by 2006. However, despite completion, the film was on hold for eight years due to producers financial problems, before having a limited release in 2015. The actors other projects during the period which were announced but got shelved, included Raghurajs Jockey alongside
Gracy Singh and Cheyyaru Ravis Vithagan. His 2006 release Jambhavan opened to negative reviews and became a failure commercially. He was praised for his performance in Bhuvanarajas Adaikalam, a family drama, as in Shiva Shanmugams Thagapansamy, where he was credited as the "only silver lining".
Prashanth later appeared in 2011 in two heavily delayed productions - Ponnar Shankar and Mambattiyan. The former received a mixed response and did average business at the box office, while the latter received above average reviews. Pulan Visaranai 2 in 2015 too received mixed reviews. The actor was last seen in the lead in 2016 action comedy Saagasam, which did not make any noticeable impact. Prashanths upcoming projects include Neeyum Naanum Naduvula Peiyum and untitled remake of Hindi film Special 26.
Filmography of Prashanth
Prashanth has acted in the following films thus far in his career, highlighted alongside his roles and years of release.
Year |
Film |
Role |
1990 |
Vaigasi Poranthachu |
Kumaresan |
1991 |
Perumthachan (Malayalam) |
Kannan Viswakarman |
1992 |
Vanna Vanna Pookkal |
Shiva |
1992 |
Chembaruthi |
Raja |
1992 |
Unakkaga Piranthen |
Krishna |
1992 |
I Love You (Hindi) |
Kishen |
1992 |
Laati (Telugu) |
Guna |
1993 |
Enga Thambi |
Pichumani |
1993 |
Tholi Muddhu (Telugu) |
Prashanth |
1993 |
Thiruda Thiruda |
Azhagu |
1993 |
Kizhakke Varum Paattu |
Shakthi |
1994 |
Rasa Magan |
Prabhakaran |
1994 |
Anokha Prem Yudh (Hindi) |
|
1994 |
Kanmani |
Raja |
1994 |
Sendhamizh Selvan |
Selvan |
1995 |
Aanazhagan |
Raja |
1996 |
Kalloori Vaasal |
Sathya |
1996 |
Krishna |
Krishna |
1997 |
Mannava |
Eashwar |
1998 |
Jeans |
Vishwanathan / Ramamoorthy |
1998 |
Kannedhirey Thondrinal |
Vasanth |
1998 |
Kaadhal Kavithai |
Vishwa |
1999 |
Poomagal Oorvalam |
Saravanan |
1999 |
Jodi |
Kannan |
1999 |
Hello |
Chandru |
1999 |
Aasaiyil Oru Kadidham |
Karthik |
2000 |
Good Luck |
Surya |
2000 |
Appu |
Appu |
2000 |
Parthen Rasithen |
Shankar |
2001 |
Piriyadha Varam Vendum |
Sanjay |
2001 |
Star |
Moorthy |
2001 |
Chocolate |
Aravind |
2001 |
Majunu |
Vasanth |
2002 |
Thamizh |
Thamizh |
2002 |
Virumbugiren |
Sivan |
2003 |
Winner |
Sakthi |
2004 |
Jai |
Jai |
2004 |
Shock |
Vasanth |
2005 |
Aayudham |
Siva |
2005 |
London |
Sivaraman |
2006 |
Jambhavan |
Velan |
2006 |
Thagapansamy |
Kadhirvel |
2006 |
Adaikalam |
Anbu |
2011 |
Ponnar Shankar |
Ponnar Shankar |
2011 |
Mambattiyan |
Mambattiyan |
2015 |
Pulan Visaranai 2 |
|
2016 |
Saagasam |
Ravi |
Personal Life of Prashanth
Prashanth married V. D. Grahalakshmi on September 1, 2005 and the couple gave birth to a son in 2006. The couple split the same year and Prashanth filed a divorce case at a family court. The actors maternal grandfather, Peketi Sivaram, was an actor and an acclaimed director in Telugu, Tamil and
Kannada films. He also has a sister, Preethi Thiagarajan.
Related Articles:
Indian Movie Actors
Tamil Cinema
Tamil Movie Directors
Indian Commercial Cinema
Indian Film Producers
Indian Action Films
Malayalam Films
Indian Films at Oscars
Kannada Films
Telugu Films
(Last Updated on : 29-08-2016)