Prabhas is an Indian actor who works predominantly in Telugu cinema. He rose to nationwide and international prominence with the two-part historical epic Baahubali, directed by S. S. Rajamouli, which transformed him into one of the most recognisable faces of Indian cinema. He is known for working primarily on large-scale, big-budget productions and for action and historical roles.
| Full name | Uppalapati Venkata Suryanarayana Prabhas Raju |
|---|---|
| Known as | Prabhas |
| Born | 23 October 1979 |
| Birthplace | Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu, India |
| Native place | Mogalturu, West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh |
| Family | Son of producer U. Suryanarayana Raju; nephew of actor Krishnam Raju |
| Occupation | Film actor, producer |
| Years active | 2002–present |
| Primary industry | Telugu cinema (Tollywood) |
| Debut film | Eeswar (2002) |
| Notable works | Baahubali: The Beginning, Baahubali 2: The Conclusion, Mirchi, Saaho, Salaar |
Prabhas was born into a Telugu-speaking family with strong ties to the film industry. His father, U. Suryanarayana Raju, was a film producer, and his uncle, Krishnam Raju, was a leading actor of Telugu cinema in the 1970s and 1980s and later a Union Minister. The family hails from Mogalturu in the West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh. Prabhas pursued a B.Tech degree before entering films.
Prabhas made his acting debut with Eeswar (2002), directed by Jayanth C. Paranjee. His second film, Varsham (2004), directed by Sobhan, became a major commercial success and established him as a bankable lead. Through the rest of the decade he appeared in films such as Chakram (2005), Chatrapathi (2005, his first collaboration with director S. S. Rajamouli), Pournami (2006), Bujjigadu (2008), Billa (2009), Ek Niranjan (2009) and Darling (2010).
Films such as Mr. Perfect (2011) and Mirchi (2013), directed by Koratala Siva, were major hits that consolidated his status as a leading actor in Telugu cinema. Mirchi in particular received strong critical and commercial reception.
Prabhas reunited with S. S. Rajamouli for Baahubali: The Beginning (2015) and Baahubali 2: The Conclusion (2017), in which he played the dual roles of Amarendra Baahubali and Mahendra Baahubali. Produced by Arka Media Works and shot simultaneously in Telugu and Tamil with dubbed versions in Hindi, Malayalam and other languages, the films were among the highest-grossing Indian productions of their time and brought Prabhas wide recognition across India and in international markets. Baahubali 2 in particular set several box office records on its release.
After Baahubali, Prabhas worked exclusively on pan-Indian productions released in multiple languages. These included Saaho (2019), an action film directed by Sujeeth; Radhe Shyam (2022), a romantic drama directed by Radha Krishna Kumar; Adipurush (2023), directed by Om Raut and based on the Ramayana, in which he played Raghava (Rama); Salaar: Part 1 – Ceasefire (2023), directed by Prashanth Neel; and Kalki 2898 AD (2024), a science-fiction film directed by Nag Ashwin and co-starring Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Kamal Haasan.
Prabhas is associated with action-led, high-production-value cinema and has frequently played warrior, hero or larger-than-life characters. He is noted in industry coverage for committing extended periods to single projects, especially during the multi-year shoots of Baahubali and Salaar. His films after 2015 have generally been mounted as multilingual, pan-Indian releases.
Prabhas is widely regarded as one of the actors who helped accelerate the shift of Telugu cinema from a regional industry to a pan-Indian commercial force. The success of the Baahubali films contributed to greater visibility for South Indian films in the Hindi-speaking market and abroad, influencing distribution patterns and the planning of subsequent multilingual Indian productions.
Prabhas has received several Filmfare Awards South, Nandi Awards from the Government of Andhra Pradesh, SIIMA Awards and other industry honours for his performances in films such as Varsham, Mirchi and the Baahubali series.