Prabhu Ganesan (born 25 December 1956), known professionally as Prabhu, is an Indian actor, businessman and film producer who predominantly works in
Tamil cinema
Tamil cinema, also known as Kollywood is a part of Indian Cinema; primarily engaged in production of motion pictures in the Tamil language. Based out of the Kodambakkam neighbourhood in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, it is popularly called ''Kollywood' ...
. He is the son of veteran actor
Sivaji Ganesan
Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Ga ...
. He is popularly known as ''Ilaya Thilagam''. He has worked in more than 215 films in lead and supporting roles in
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
,
Telugu
Telugu may refer to:
* Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India
*Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India
* Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language
** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode
S ...
,
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...
and
Kannada
Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...
films.
After making his debut in ''
Sangili'' (1982), Prabhu played various leading and supporting roles, earning the
Best Actor award recognition by the
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
State for his portrayal in ''
Chinna Thambi
''Chinna Thambi'' () is a 1991 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by P. Vasu. The film stars Prabhu as the titular character, an uneducated village simpleton and Khushbu as Nandini, a homeschooled wealthy girl. Man ...
'' (1991).
Early life
Prabhu was born to veteran actor
Sivaji Ganesan
Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Ga ...
and Kamala on 25 December 1956. His elder brother
Ramkumar
Ramkumar is an Indian actor and film producer known for his work in Kannada cinema. He made his acting debut in Peraala's 1990 action film '' Aavesha''. The same year, he played a brief role in Rajendra Singh Babu's war film '' Muthina Haara'' ...
is a film producer and he has two sisters Shanthi and Thenmozhi.
Career
After leaving
Bishop Cotton Boys' School
Bishop Cotton Boys' School is an all-boys school for boarders and day scholars in Bangalore, India, founded in the memory of Bishop George Edward Lynch Cotton, Bishop of Calcutta. The school has been described as "The Eton of the East".
Th ...
in
Bangalore
Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...
, Prabhu got involved in film production as an executive producer and worked alongside his uncle and mentor V. C. Shanmugam, who insisted that Prabhu learn the film making process in a disciplined way, giving him general tasks such as pulling up chairs for artistes. Prabhu's father, actor
Sivaji Ganesan
Villupuram Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy, better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001) was an Indian actor and producer. He was active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th century. Sivaji Ga ...
, had initially expressed reluctance in allowing Prabhu to pursue an acting career, but through his work in the industry, he began to receive offers from film-makers to feature in their films.
["A CHAT WITH TAMIL ACTOR PRABHU"]
''Google Groups''. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
He subsequently made his acting debut in
C. V. Rajendran
C. V. Rajendran (12 March 1937 – 1 April 2018) was an Indian film director and producer who worked in the Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi film industries. He was a cousin of famous director C. V. Sridhar.
Film career
He worked ...
's ''
Sangili'' (1982), a remake of the Hindi film ''
Kalicharan
''Kalicharan'' is a 1976 Indian Hindi-language action drama film directed by Subhash Ghai, starring Shatrughan Sinha, Reena Roy, Premnath, Ajit, Madan Puri and Danny Denzongpa. The film became a box office blockbuster. The film was the dir ...
'', where he was cast in a supporting role. By the time ''Sangili'' released, Prabhu was working on six films, including
Charuhasan
S. Charuhasan (born 5 January 1931) is an Indian actor, director and retired lawyer who has acted in Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, Malayalam and Hindi films. He won the National Film Award for Best ActorSubha J Rao,Entertainment for a cause, The Hind ...
's ''Pudhiya Sangamam'' and
Gangai Amaren
Gangai Amaran is an Indian music composer, singer, lyricist, writer, film director and actor in Tamil films.
Personal life
Gangai Amaran was born in Pannaipuram in Theni district, Tamil Nadu in December 1947, as the youngest son of Daniel Ram ...
's romantic film ''
Kozhi Koovuthu'', which became his first commercially successful venture. After featuring in about thirty films, including nineteen with his father including ''
Neethibathi
''Neethibathi'' () is a 1983 Indian Tamil-language legal drama film directed by R. Krishnamoorthy and produced by Suresh Balaji. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan and K. R. Vijaya. The film had musical score by Gangai Amaran. It is a remake of ...
'' (1983), ''
Sandhippu
''Sandhippu'' () is a 1983 Indian Tamil-language masala film, directed by C. V. Rajendran and produced by Santhi Narayanasamy. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, Sridevi, Sujatha, M. N. Nambiar and Prabhu. It is a remake of the 1981 Hindi film ...
'' (1983) and ''
Miruthanga Chakravarthi
''Miruthanga Chakravarthi'' () is a 1983 Indian Tamil-language musical drama film directed by K. Shankar and produced by Sakunthala N. The film stars Sivaji Ganesan, K. R. Vijaya, M. N. Nambiar, V. K. Ramasamy, Prabhu and Sulakshana. Th ...
'' (1983), Prabhu's career graph registered a drop and he began to reconsider the type of films he had signed. He opted against featuring in films co-starring his father and consciously began to choose subjects rather than accept as many offers as possible.
Among the first films he signed after taking the break included
G. M. Kumar
G. M. Kumar is an Indian actor who has appeared in Tamil language films. He won Nandi Award for Best Story Writer, Nandi Award for Second Best Story Writer film Muvva Gopaludu (1987) its an official remake of his own film ''Aruvadai Naal''
Per ...
's ''
Aruvadai Naal
''Aruvadai Naal'' () is a 1986 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by G. M. Kumar in his debut. The film stars Prabhu and Pallavi. It was released on 1 November 1986. The film was remade in Telugu as ''Muvva Gopaludu'' (1987).
...
'' (1986) and
Manivannan
S. Manivannan Rajagopal (31 July 1953 – 15 June 2013), better known by his mononym Manivannan, was an Indian film director, actor and activist who worked mainly in Tamil cinema and also worked in a few Telugu & Malayalam films. In a car ...
's ''
Paalaivana Rojakkal'', alongside
Sathyaraj
Rangaraj Subbiah (born 3 October 1954), professionally known as Sathyaraj, is an Indian actor, producer, director and a media personality who has predominantly appeares in Tamil cinema and Telugu cinema, Telugu Cinema. His 240 films also includ ...
, both proving successful. Subsequently, the following period saw a series of commercial successes in 1988 for the actor, notably
S. P. Muthuraman's ''
Guru Sishyan'' with
Rajinikanth
Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...
,
Mani Ratnam
Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and few Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Ratnam has won six ...
's ''
Agni Natchathiram
''Agni Natchathiram'' () is a 1988 Indian Tamil-language masala film that was written and directed by Mani Ratnam. The film stars Prabhu, Karthik, Amala and newcomer Nirosha, with Vijayakumar, Jayachitra, Sumithra, Tara, S. N. Lakshmi and ...
'' with
Karthik and
P. Vasu
Vasudevan Peethambharan, known professionally as P Vasu, is an Indian director, writer and actor who works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam language films. In a career spanning three decades, Vasu has directed over 64 films. 's family drama ''
En Thangachi Padichava
''En Thangachi Padichava'' () is a 1988 Indian Tamil-language drama film directed by P. Vasu. The film stars Prabhu, Rupini and Chithra. The film, produced by Mohan Natarajan and Tharangai V. Shanmugam, had musical score by Gangai Amaran and wa ...
''.
The success of the latter film prompted more successful collaborations in the same genre between Prabhu and Vasu with ''
Chinna Thambi
''Chinna Thambi'' () is a 1991 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by P. Vasu. The film stars Prabhu as the titular character, an uneducated village simpleton and Khushbu as Nandini, a homeschooled wealthy girl. Man ...
'' (1991) and ''
Senthamizh Pattu'' (1992) also receiving a similar reception, with the actor earning the
Best Actor award recognition by the
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
state.
He subsequently worked in his hundredth film
R. V. Udayakumar's ''
Rajakumaran'', before portraying well received roles in
K. Balachander
Kailasam Balachander (9 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an Indian film maker and playwright who worked mainly in the Tamil cinema. He was well known for his distinct film-making style, and the Indian film industry knew him as a master of un ...
's romantic film ''
Duet
A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...
'' (1994) and
Priyadarshan
Priyadarshan (born 30 January 1957) is an Indian film director, screenwriter and producer who works predominantly in Malayalam and Hindi films, while also having done six films in Tamil and two films in Telugu. He has done about 31 films in Hi ...
's Malayalam period film ''
Kaalapani
''Kaalapani'' () is a 1996 Indian Malayalam-language epic historical drama film co-written and directed by Priyadarshan. Set in 1915, the film focuses on the lives of Indian independence activists incarcerated in the Cellular Jail (or ''Kāl ...
'' (1996) alongside
Mohanlal
Mohanlal Viswanathan (born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, film distributor, and director who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeare ...
. Prabhu went through another barren spell in the late 1990s, when several films after the success of ''
Panchalankurichi
Panchalankurichi is a village, 3 km from Ottapidaram and 21 km from Thoothukudi in Thoothukudi district, Tamil Nadu, India. Panchalankurichi was once a Palayam and is best known as the birthplace of Veerapandiya Kattabomman, an 18th- ...
'' failed to do well, prompting another image change away from his village do-gooder roles.
Moving away from action films, Prabhu selected scripts which would appeal to family audiences in the early 2000s and collaborated with film-makers including
Rama Narayanan
Rama Narayanan (3 April 1949 – 22 June 2014) was an Indian film director and producer. In the 1980s, he was known as a director who specialized in shooting commercial films in which animals played vital roles, while in the 1990s, several of h ...
and
T. P. Gajendran, working in a series of "minimum guarantee" return films.
Prabhu then made another career change and began accepting film offers in which he would play a supporting rather than the leading role and featured alongside
Kamal Haasan
Kamal Haasan (born 7 November 1954) is an Indian actor, filmmaker, screenwriter, playback singer, television presenter and politician who works mainly in Tamil cinema and has also appeared in some Telugu, Malayalam, Hindi, Kannada and Bengali l ...
and then
Rajinikanth
Shivaji Rao Gaikwad (born 12 December 1950), known professionally as Rajinikanth, is an Indian actor, producer and screenwriter. In a career spanning over five decades, he has done 160 films that includes films in Tamil, Hindi, Telugu, Kannad ...
in two big budget ventures ''
Vasool Raja MBBS
''Vasool Raja MBBS'' () is a 2004 Indian Tamil-language comedy drama film directed by Saran. It is a Tamil remake of the 2003 Hindi film ''Munna Bhai M.B.B.S.'', which is inspired by the 1998 American film ''Patch Adams''. The film stars Kamal ...
'' (2004) and his home production ''
Chandramukhi'' (2005). Since then, he has gained acclaim portraying characters including a caring guardian in ''
Unakkum Enakkum
''Unakkum Enakkum'' (), also known by its formal title ''Unakkum Enakkum ... Something Something'', is a 2006 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film directed by M. Raja. A remake of Telugu film ''Nuvvostanante Nenoddantana'' (2005), it star ...
'', ''
Thaamirabharani
''Thaamirabharani'' is a 2007 Indian Tamil-language action drama film written and directed by Hari. The film has Vishal and newcomer Bhanu, while Prabhu, Nadhiya, Vijayakumar, Nassar and Ganja Karuppu play supporting roles. The score and ...
'' and ''
Ayan'', while he has also been seen in detective roles in action films, notably ''
Billa Billa may refer to:
Films
*Billa (1980 film), ''Billa'' (1980 film), 1980 Indian Tamil film
*Billa (2002 film), ''Billa'' (2002 film), 2002 Pakistani Punjabi film
*Billa (2007 film), ''Billa'' (2007 film), 2007 Indian Tamil film, remake of ''Bil ...
'' (2007) and then ''
Kanthaswamy
''Kanthaswamy'' is a 2009 Indian Tamil-language superhero film written and directed by Susi Ganesan, starring Vikram as the titular character, with Prabhu, Shriya Saran, Ashish Vidyarthi, Mukesh Tiwari, Krishna Ghattamaneni and Vadivelu fo ...
'' (2009). He has also played other acclaimed supporting roles in
Mani Ratnam
Gopala Ratnam Subramaniam (born 2 June 1956), known professionally as Mani Ratnam, is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Tamil cinema and few Hindi, Telugu and Kannada films. Ratnam has won six ...
's ''
Raavanan'' (2010) and
Aishwarya Dhanush's ''
3'' (2012), while he has ventured into playing similar roles in Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam films. In 2016, Prabhu featured in his 200th film, the romantic comedy ''
Meen Kuzhambum Mann Paanaiyum
''Meen Kuzhambum Mann Paanaiyum'' () is a 2016 Indian Tamil language fantasy comedy movie filmed in parts of West Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia. It was written and directed by Amudheshwar and produced by Dushyanth Ramkumar. The film stars Pr ...
'' produced by his nephew,
Dushyanth Ramkumar
Dushyanth Ramkumar is an Indian actor and producer working in Tamil language films, who made his debut in '' Success'' (2004). After appearing in a couple of films, he has worked as an executive producer for Sivaji Productions. He is the son of ...
.
Personal life
Prabhu is married to Punitha in 1982 and has two children Aishwarya Prabhu (born 1984) and
Vikram Prabhu
Vikram Prabhu is an Indian actor working in Tamil language films who made his debut in Prabhu Solomon's '' Kumki'' (2012). He also played the protagonist in ''Ivan Veramathiri'' (2013) and ''Vellaikaara Durai'' (2014). He is the son of actor Pr ...
(born 1986), who made his acting debut in the 2012 film ''
Kumki''.
While still married to Punitha, Prabhu had a live-in relationship with actress
Kushboo, and got married on September 12, 1993. The pair subsequently decided to split four months later.
His son
Vikram Prabhu
Vikram Prabhu is an Indian actor working in Tamil language films who made his debut in Prabhu Solomon's '' Kumki'' (2012). He also played the protagonist in ''Ivan Veramathiri'' (2013) and ''Vellaikaara Durai'' (2014). He is the son of actor Pr ...
is also a Tamil actor.
Filmography
Awards
Cinema Express Awards
Filmfare Awards South
Prabhu was nominated six times at the
Filmfare Awards South
Filmfare Awards South is the South Indian segment of the annual Filmfare Awards, presented by the Filmfare magazine of The Times Group to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Indian film industry encompassing ...
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards
References
External links
Official website*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prabhu
Indian male film actors
Tamil male actors
Living people
1956 births
Male actors from Chennai
Film producers from Chennai
Tamil film producers
Loyola College, Chennai alumni
Bishop Cotton Boys' School alumni
Male actors in Tamil cinema
Male actors in Telugu cinema
Male actors in Kannada cinema
Male actors in Malayalam cinema
Tamil Nadu State Film Awards winners
20th-century Indian male actors
21st-century Indian male actors