Akul Balaji (born Akula Balaji on 23 February 1979) is an Indian actor, television host and dancer who works in

Kannada Kannada () is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the state of Karnataka in southwestern India, and spoken by a minority of the population in all neighbouring states. It has 44 million native speakers, and is additionally a ...

and Telugu television shows and films. He started his career by acting and hosting television shows and has participated in the

Kannada Film Kannada cinema, also known as Sandalwood, or Chandanavana, is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Kannada language widely spoken in the state of Karnataka. Kannada cinema is based in Gandhi Nagar ...

Industry for almost a decade. He shot to fame for co-hosting the hit Kannada reality show ''Pyate Hudgir Halli Lifu'' on

Asianet Suvarna Star Suvarna, ''(formerly Asianet Suvarna)'' is an Indian Kannada language general entertainment pay television channel owned by JioStar, a joint venture between Viacom18 and Disney India. It primarily telecast programmes such as serials, ...

Channel, with Kannada Star

Sudeep Sudeep Sanjeev (born 2 September 1971), also known as Kichcha Sudeepa, is an Indian actor, director, producer, screenwriter, singer and television presenter, who primarily works in Kannada cinema. He has also worked in Hindi cinema, Hindi, Te ...

. He recently hosted a Kannada dance reality show named Takadhimita on Colors Kannada Channel. In 2014, by public vote, Akul won the second season of game show

Bigg Boss Kannada ''Bigg Boss Kannada (BBK)'' is the Kannada version of the reality TV show ''Bigg Boss'', which is broadcast in India through Colors Kannada channel. The show is produced by Endemol Shine India, who owns the global format of '' Big Brother''. ...

– the Indian version of Celebrity Big Brother and currently produced by Endemol India

Early and personal life

Originally from a small town called Rly. Kodur in

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

, Akul Balaji was born on 23 February 1979. After moving to

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

at age 16, he trained in Bharathanatyam under Smt. Usha Datar and later joined "Natya STEM Dance Kampni", headed by Madhu Nataraj as a contemporary dancer and learned

Kathak ''Kathak'' is one of the eight major forms of Classical Indian dance, Indian classical dance. Its origin is attributed to the traveling bards in ancient northern India known as ''Kathakar'' ("storyteller"), who communicated stories from the ...

from Guru Smt. Dr. Maya Rao. He also dabbled in theater in Director Pawan Kumar's adaptation of Badal Sarkar's ''Evam Inderjit'' in 2004. He has also done an advance acting workshop under

Mahesh Dattani Mahesh Dattani (born 7 August 1958) is an Indian film director, director, actor, playwright and writer. He wrote such plays as ''Final Solutions'', ''Dance Like a Man'', ''Bravely Fought the Queen'', ''On a Muggy Night in Mumbai'', ''Tara: A Pla ...

. Akul Balaji married his wife Jyothi Akul in 2008. The couple have a son.

Career

From beginnings as a small screen actor, he has become an actor and television host in

Karnataka Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...

. He had won "The most popular anchor award" by Big FM Big TV for the year 2010 and he has to his credit superhit shows like ''Kuniyonu Baara'' and ''Comedy Killadigalu'' on Zee Kannada. He has hosted super hit reality shows for

like ''Pyate Hudgir Halli Lifu'' season 1 & 2, ''Halli Haida Pyateg Banda'', ''Pyate Mandi Kadige Bandru 1'', ''Pyate Mandi Kaadige Bandru 2'', which was shot in

Andaman Islands The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a mari ...

, ''Hosa Luv Story'', and ''Nodi Swamy Naavirode Heege''. He hosted ''Mane Munde Mahalakshmi'', a game show for ETV Kannada and ''Indian''. He hosted ''Sye Ante Sye'' for Zee Telugu. He also hosted the reality show called ''Thakadimitha Dancing Stars'' for ETV Kannada. He has acted in the television series ''Agatha'' (2002), ''Guptha Gamini'', ''Yava Janumadha Maithri'', ''Jagalagantiyaru'', ''Pellinati Pramanalu'' (2012). He made a comeback in the Telugu television industry in 2021 with '' Oohalu Gusagusalade.''

Filmography

Television

Film

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balaji, Akul Living people 1979 births Indian male film actors Male actors in Kannada cinema Male actors in Telugu cinema People from Kadapa district Male actors from Andhra Pradesh 21st-century Indian male actors Male actors in Telugu television Telugu male actors Bigg Boss Kannada winners