Nagaraju Shiva Puttaswamy, known by screen name Shivaraj Kumar, Shivaraj Kumar is a multi-talented Indian film actor, producer, singer and television presenter. He was born on 12 July 1961 in Madras, Madras State, India, who is known for his work at the Kannada Cinema. During his career spanning more than three decades, Shiva has worked in more than 125 films.

At the insistence of director K. Balachander, Shiva entered a drama school in Chennai after graduating from the University of Madras in 1983. After being trained in Kuchipudi dance by Vempetti Chinni Sathyam in Chennai during his university studies, he entered Film Industry Kannada with Anand. He is the ambassador of the Royal Challengers Bangalore brand for their eleventh season of Indian Premier League. He was the second actor Kannada to buy Maruti 800.

Shivaraj Kumar is a Tamil Nadu, actor Rajkumar and film producer Parvathamma as the first of five children. His two brothers are Raghavendra Rajkumar, film producer and former actor of Kannada and Puneeth Rajkumar, film actor Kannada. Shiva was educated at T. Nagar, Chennai, then studied at New College, Chennai.

Shiva got married to Geeta, daughter of the former Prime Minister of Karnataka, S. Bangarappa. The couple has two daughters: Niveditha and Nirupama.