Akul Balaji

Akul Balaji
Born	Akula Balaji (1979-02-23) 23 February 1979 (age 46) Koduru, Andhra Pradesh, India
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2002–present
Spouse	Jyothi Akul (2008–present)
Children	Krishaan Nag

Akul Balaji (born Akula Balaji on 23 February 1979) is an Indian actor, television host and dancer who works in Kannada and Telugu television shows and films. He started his career by acting and hosting television shows and has participated in the Kannada Film Industry for almost a decade. He shot to fame for co-hosting the hit Kannada reality show Pyate Hudgir Halli Lifu ^[1] on Asianet Suvarna Channel, with Kannada Star Sudeep. 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 – the Indian version of Celebrity Big Brother and currently produced by Endemol India ^[2]

Early and personal life

Originally from a small town called Rly. Kodur in Andhra Pradesh, Akul Balaji was born on 23 February 1979. After moving to Bangalore 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 from Guru Smt. Dr. Maya Rao. He has also dabbled in theater in Director Pawan Kumar's adaptation of Badal Sarkar's Evam Inderjit in 2004. ^[3] He has also done an advance acting workshop under Mahesh Dattani. 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. He had won "The most popular anchor award" by Big FM Big TV for the year 2010 ^[4] and he has to his credit superhit shows like Kuniyonu Baara and ^[5] Comedy Killadigalu on Zee Kannada. He has hosted super hit reality shows for Asianet Suvarna like Pyate Hudgir Halli Lifu season 1 & 2, Halli Haida Pyateg Banda, Pyate Mandi Kadige Bandru 1, Pyate Mandi Kaadige Bandru 2, ^[6] which was shot in Andaman Islands, Hosa Luv Story, ^[7] and Nodi Swamy Naavirode Heege. He hosted Mane Munde Mahalakshmi, ^[8] 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 ^[9] 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. ^[10]

Filmography

Television

Year	Work	Role	Network	Language
2007	Kuniyonu Baara	Host	Zee Kannada	Kannada
2008	Comedy Killadigalu	Host
2009	Kuniyonu Baara Boys vs Girls	Mentor
2010	Pyate Hudgir Halli Lifu Season 1	Host	Suvarna
	Halli Haida Pyateg Banda	Host
	Pyate Mandi Kaadige Bandru Season 1	Host
2011	Pyate Hudgir Halli Lifu Season 2	Host
	Hosa Luv Story	Host
	Pyate Mandi Kaadige Bandru Season 2	Host
2012	Nodi Swami Naavirodhe Heege	Host
	Pellinati Pramanalu	Abhi	Zee Telugu	Telugu
2013	Mane Mundhe Mahalakshmi	Host	ETV Kannada	Kannada
	Sye Ante Sye	Host	Zee Telugu	Telugu
	Indian	Host	ETV Kannada
2014	Thaka Dhimi Tha Dancing star	Host		Kannada
	Bigg Boss Kannada (season 2)	Winner	ETV Kannada
	Pyate Hudgir Halli Lifu (season 3)	Mentor
2015	Dancing Stars Season 2 [11]	Host	Colors Kannada
	3.2.1.GO	Host	Zee Telugu	Telugu
	Dancing Star Junior	Host	Colors Kannada	Kannada
	Super Jodi	Host	Star Suvarna
	13 Fear is Real	Host	Zee Telugu	Telugu
2016	Star Suvarna Dance Dance	Host	Star Suvarna	Kannada
	KICK	Host	Udaya TV
2017	Super Jodi Season 2	Host	Star Suvarna
	Deshamudurlu	Host	MAA TV	Telugu
	Super Talk Time	Host	Colors Super	Kannada
2018	Master Dancer	Host
	Pyate Hudgir Halli Lyfu Season 4	Host	Star Suvarna
	Sixth Sense Kannada	Host
	Halli Haida Pyateg Banda Season 4	Host
2019	Thakadimitha	Host	Colors Kannada
	Colors Comedy Company	Host
2021	Cookku With Kirikku	Host	Star Suvarna
2021–present	Oohalu Gusagusalade	Abhiram	Zee Telugu	Telugu
2021	Bigg Boss Kannada Mini Season	Task Master	Colors Kannada	Kannada
2022	Dancing Champion	Host	Colors Kannada
	Dance India Dance Telugu	Host	Zee Telugu	Telugu
	Ghana Bajaana Season 3	Host	Star Suvarna	Kannada
2023	Bharjari Bachelors	Host	Zee Kannada
2024	Comedy Killadigalu Premier League	Judge / Team Owner	Zee Kannada

Film

Year	Title	Role(s)	Notes
2006	Kallarali Hoovagi	Thippaga
2007	Milana		Cameo appearance
2008	Athmeeya	Vijay
	Paramesha Panwala
2009	Neramu Siksha	Rohit	Telugu film [12]
	Banni
2013	Myna	Game show host	Cameo appearance
	Pyarge Aagbittaite		Cameo appearance
	Loosegalu	Shankara
2014	Crazy Star		Cameo appearance

References

1. "Pyate Hudgir Halli Life". Exchange for Media.com. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013.
2. "Breaking : Bigg Boss 8 Kanada Winner Is Akul Balaji". Business of cinema. 4 October 2014. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
3. "Evam Inderjit". Deccan Herald Metrolife. 30 September 2004. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
4. "Kannada Television Awards". IndianTelevision.com. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
5. "Kuniyonu Baara". Zee Kannada. Archived from the original on 1 May 2010.
6. "Pyate Mandi Kaadige Bandru". Media Asia. Archived from the original on 3 April 2013.
7. "Hosa Luv Story". IndianTelevision. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
8. "Mane Munde Mahalakshmi". Oneindia Kannada. 29 December 2012. Archived from the original on 17 December 2013. Retrieved 15 December 2013.
9. "Dancing Star in ETV". Cineblitz. Archived from the original on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
10. "Akul Balaji returns to acting with Telugu TV show - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 16 September 2021.
11. "ETV Twin Treat". India Glitz. 2 February 2015. Archived from the original on 20 May 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
12. "Neramu-Siksha in re-recording". The New Indian Express. 15 May 2012.

External links

• Akul Balaji at IMDb

Preceded by Vijay Raghavendra	Bigg Boss Kannada Winner (Series 2) 2014	Succeeded by Shruti