Prabhas to Rajinikanth: 11 popular South Indian actors and their real names

We identify with our favourite stars according to their screen names. Little do we realise that their industry names are not their real names.

Many change their names entirely only to make an entry to the glam world whereas some shorten their full name. Find out the real name of your favourite star.

Rajinikanth

The veteran actor worked as a bus conductor in Bangalore. Rajini's real name is Shivaji Rao Gaekwad, named after Chhatrapati Shivaji, a Maratha warrior King. While in school he performed in many plays. After becoming an actor, he changed his name as Rajinikanth.

Chiranjeevi

The Tollywood megastar is from Mogalthur, a village near Narsapur, West Godavari. His original name is Konidela Siva Sankara Vara Prasad. He made his acting debut in 1978, with the film Punadhirallu.

Dhanush 

The actor is known for his work in the Tamil film industry. His real name is Venkatesh Prabhu Kasthuri Raja. In his 15 years of acting, Dhanush has won 3 National Film Awards and 7 Filmfare Awards. His popular song "Why this Kolaveri Di" became the first Indian music video to cross 100 million views.

Prabhas

Baahubali-fame actor Prabhas made his debut in 2002 with the film Eshwar. His original name is Uppalapati Venkata Satyanarayana Prabhas Raju. In 2015, Prabhas was applauded for this role in S. S. Rajamouli's big-budget film Baahubali: The Beginning.

Kamal Hasan

The senior actor began his career as a child artist in a Tamil movie Kalathur Kannamma. He is one of the famous faces of the south cinema industry. Kamal Hasan was born as Parthasarathy Srinivasan.

Mammootty

In a career span of four decades, Mammootty has performed in over 400 films. The popular Malayalam actor's original name is Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail. Mammootty initially used the stage name Sajin in his early films.

Pawan Kalyan

He is the younger brother of famous actor turned politician Chiranjeevi. In 1996, Pawan Kalyan made his acting debut with a Telugu film Akkada Ammayi Ikkada Abbayi. His real name is Konidela Kalyan Babu.

Suriya 

He is known for his work in Tamil movies such as Nandha, Pithamagan, Ghajini, Singam, Singam II and S3. Suriya has won three Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and four Filmfare Awards (South) for his work in Tamil cinema. His real name is Saravanan Sivakumar.

Vijay

In 1984, Vijay entered the film industry as a child artist through a Tamil film Vetri. He is one of the famous actors of Kollywood. Vijay's original name is Joseph Vijay Chandrasekhar.

Yash

The actor was born to a Kannada speaking community in Bhuvanahalli, a village near Hassan, Karnataka. Yash is known for his roles in Kannada movies Rajadhani, Mr and Mrs Ramachari, Kirataka, Googly and KGF: Chapter 1. The real name of the actor is Naveen Kumar Gowda.

Mahesh Babu

The actor debuted as a child artist at the age of 4 with the movie Needa. As a lead actor, Mahesh Babu made his debut with the movie Rajakumarudu in the year 1999. He was born as Mahesh Ghattamaneni and later changed it to Mahesh Babu.