Prasanna Venkatesan, often credited mononymously as Prasanna, is an Indian actor who works predominantly in the Tamil film industry and alongside appeared in a few Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada films. He made his first success in Five Star in 2002, which was produced by Mani Ratnam. Some of his other notable films are Kannum Kannum, Cheena Thaana 001, Kanda Naal Mudhal, Naanga Romba Busy and Naanayam. Apart from lead roles, he has also played villain roles. His film Achchamundu! Achchamundu!, in which he starred alongside Sneha and American actor John Shea, was screened at many International film festivals, such as Shanghai and Cairo International Film Festival. Early life and background Prasanna was born in Tiruchirappalli. His father was an employee in BHEL and his mother is a homemaker. He completed his schooling from BHEL Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Tiruchirappalli. He has a younger brother. Prasanna was good at mimicry and acting, when he was in school and college. He had stated that he always wanted to become an actor. He was an EEE student in Saranathan College of Engineering, Tiruchirapalli, when he responded to an open audition for actors in Susi Ganesan's Five Star (2002), although his parents were unhappy with his decision. Film career Five Star, produced by Mani Ratnam's Madras Talkies, featured Prasanna alongside four other newcomers, most notably Kanika; it was well received by critics and performed modestly at the box office. His next two films Ragasiyamai (2003) and Kadhal Dot Com (2004), did not fare well commercially. After Five Star, his noteworthy performance came in Azhagiya Theeye (2004). He cites that the time between Five Star and Azhagiya Theeye was "a painful one", since the roles offered to him were "not the ones" he wanted to play. The film, involving an ensemble cast, was produced by Prakash Raj's Duet Movies and directed by Radha Mohan. Critics commented that he had improved in emoting, labelling his "voice modulation in the humorous scenes" as "impressive". Prakash Raj, impressed by his performance in the film, offered him the lead character in his next production Kanda Naal Mudhal, too. The triangular love story, directed by the newcomer V. Priya, costarring Laila and Karthik Kumar was a commercial success. The film ran for one-hundred days. The comedy flick Cheena Thaana 001, co-starring Sheela and Vadivelu was his only 2007 release. In 2008, Prasanna was seen in three films. He starred in