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 Prashanth"s performance being praised. He acted in the Telugu remake of Indra Kumar"s 1990 Bollywood hit film "Dil", titled "Tholi Muddhu".
He also worked in Mani Ratnam"s 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. Shankar"s 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 India"s 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 Hari"s debut film "Thamizh", an action drama that opened to positive reviews and became a box office hit. He also featured in Susi Ganeshan"s romantic film "Virumbugiren", which also won critical acclaim. Sundar C"s action comedy "Winner" where he featured in the lead also received positive reviews. The actor followed it up with action film "Jai" and his father"s production "Shock", a supernatural thriller and remake of Ram Gopal Varma"s 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. Selvamani"s "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 producer"s financial problems, before having a limited release in 2015. The actor"s other projects during the period which were announced but got shelved, included Raghuraj"s "Jockey" alongside Gracy Singh and Cheyyaru Ravi"s "Vithagan". His 2006 release "Jambhavan" opened to negative reviews and became a failure commercially. He was praised for his performance in Bhuvanaraja"s "Adaikalam", a family drama, as in Shiva Shanmugam"s "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. Prashanth"s 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 |