Prabhu Ganesan, commonly known as Prabhu, is a prominent Indian actor, businessman, and producer. He was born on 25 December 1956 in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. He is the son of veteran actor Sivaji Ganesan. He is popularly known as Ilaya Thilagam. He has worked in more than 215 films in lead and supporting roles in Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films.
After leaving Bishop Cotton Boys’ School in Bangalore, 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, 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.
He subsequently made his acting debut in C. V. Rajendran’s Sangili (1982), a remake of the Hindi film Kalicharan, where he was cast in a supporting role. By the time Sangili released, Prabhu was working on six films, including Charuhasan’s Pudhiya Sangamam and Gangai Amaren’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 (1983), Sandhippu (1983) and Miruthanga Chakravarthi (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.
Then, Prabhu 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 and then Rajinikanth in two big budget ventures Vasool Raja MBBS (2004) and his home production Chandramukhi (2005).
Since then, he has gained acclaim portraying characters including a caring guardian in Unakkum Enakkum, Thaamirabharani and Ayan, while he has also been seen in detective roles in action films, notably Billa (2007) and then Kanthaswamy (2009).
He has also played other acclaimed supporting roles in Mani Ratnam’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 produced by his nephew, Dushyanth Ramkumar.
Prabhu born to veteran actor Sivaji Ganesan and Kamala. His elder brother Ramkumar is a film producer and he has two sisters Shanthi and Thenmozhi. Prabhu got married to Punitha in 1982 and has two children Aishwarya Prabhu (born 1984) and Vikram Prabhu (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 is also a Tamil actor.