1. His real name is Prakash Rai.

2. He was born on March 26, 1965.

3. He is an Indian actor, producer, director, television presenter, and politician.

4. He has won five National Film Awards, eight Nandi Awards, eight Tamil Nadu State Film Awards, and five Filmfare Awards South.

5. He is known for his work in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, and Hindi-language films.

6. He made his debut in Tamil cinema in 1994 with Duet.

7. He has appeared in 398 films.

8. He has won National Awards for the movies Iruvar, Kanchivaram, Dhaya, Antahpuram, and Puttakkana Highway.

9. His production house is named after his first Tamil film, Duet.

10. He has over 2,000 street plays to his credit.

11. He has won Filmfare Awards South five times.

12. He has won Best Actor for Kanchivaram (2008).

13. He has speaking Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Hindi, and English.

14. He changed his surname from "Rai" to "Raj" upon K. Balachander's advice.

15. He is still called Prakash Rai in his home state, Karnataka.

16. He has two daughters, Meghana and Pooja, and a son, Sidhu who died in 2004 when he was five years old after sustaining injuries from a fall while kite flying.

17. He has been married three times. He married actress Lalitha Kumari in 1994, divorced in 2009, and married choreographer Pony Verma in 2010.