Prasanna Venkatesan, better known by his mononyms screen name Prasanna is an Indian actor who predominantly works in the Tamil film industry. The actor who made as the lead in Five Star (2002) in his early days sported only hero roles before eventually turning to play negative characters and supporting roles. The winner of ITFA Best Villian Award and the Edison Award for Best Character (Male), Prasanna in his career spanning about 15 years has appeared in more than 15 films.

Early Life
Born and raised in Tiruchirappalli, Tamil Nadu, Prasanna comes from an upper-middle-class family. His father was an employee in BHEL and his mother is a homemaker. The actor who was very good at mimicry and acting since school, he stated that he always wanted to work in the entertainment business and be an actor. Prasanna went to the BHEL Matriculation Higher Secondary School and later pursued his engineering from Saranathan College of Engineering. It was during his time in engineering college that he went for an open audition for the Susi Ganesan directed film Five Star. Although his parents were not happy about his decision, he eventually signed the film.

Personal Life
Prasanna is married to actress Suhasini Rajaram Naidu, better known by her screen name Sneha. The actor reportedly fell in love with Sneha while shooting for Achchamundu! Achchamundu! Although he initially denied the idea of marrying her, the duo eventually tied the knot in May 2012. The couple has a son named in Vihaan in August 2015.

Movie Career
Prasanna started his acting career in the film industry with a lead role in Five Star (2002) directed by Susi Ganeshan. The film also starring Kanika, Krishna and Vijayan in the lead roles garnered averaged critical reviews. Following his debut, the actor appeared in several films Kadhal Dot Com (2004), Kanda Naal Mudhal (2005), and Sadhu Miranda (2008) before rising to fame with Anjathe (2008), which won him his maiden ITFA Best Villian Award and a nomination at the Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor - Tamil.

In 2009, Prasanna collaborated with director Vaseegara Raja for Manjal Veiyil where he played the lead role alongside Sandhya and R.K. The film, which is about friendship and love received mixed reviews. Rediff stated, "Vaseegaran has obviously come in with honorable intentions - but the screenplay simply doesn`t hold water." The same year, the actor starred in one of the biggest hits of his career, Achchamundu! Achchamundu! a social thriller directed by Arun Vaidyanathan. The film also featuring Sneha, John Shea and Akshaya Dinesh received wide critical acclaim and it was officially selected for screening at the 12th Shanghai International Film Festival. For his brilliant role in the movie, Prasanna won the Edison Award for Best Character (Male).

After the huge success of Achchamundu! Achchamundu! Prasanna made a guest appearance in the youth-centric comedy film Goa directed by Venkat Prabhu. The film starring Jai, Vaibhav Reddy, Premji Amaran, Aravind Akash, Piaa Bajpai and Sneha in important roles emerged to be a massive commercial hit. His next major hit was Chennaiyil Oru Naal, a thriller directed by Shaheed Kader. The film featuring an ensemble cast including R. Sarathkumar, Cheran, Prakash Raj, Raadhika Sarathkumar and Iniya opened to highly positive reviews and was declared an average hit at the box office.

In 2013, the actor made his debut in a Telugu film Bhai an action comedy directed Veerabhadram and produced by Nagarjuna Akkineni. Although the film opened to negative critical reviews, it emerged to be a commercial hit. Over the next few years, the actor appeared in Pulivaal (2014), and Netru Indur (2014) but none of the films fared well at the box office. His 2017 release include Power Paandi where he plays one of the lead roles alongside Rajkiran. The film, which marks the directorial debut of actor Dhanush also features Revathi, Chaya Singh, Delhi Ganesh, and Robo Shankar in important roles. His 2019 releases include Viswamitra and Brother`s Day.