Akul Balaji, born as Akula Balaji, is an Indian actor, dancer and TV host who works in Telugu and Kannada languages. He was born on February 23, 1979 in Kodur, Andhra Pradesh, India. He started on acting and hosting TV shows and he is almost ten years in the Kannada Film Industry. He became popular when he co-host the Asianet Suvarna’s reality show, Pyate Hudgir Halli Lifu along with Kannada actor, Sudeep Sanjeev.

Akul was the son of Akula Bhaskar Rao and Sarala Devi. When he was 16 years old, he moved to Bangalore and trained at the classical Indian dance form, Bharatanatyam and participated in the Natya STEM Dance Kampni as a modern dancer. Then he studied Kathak from Dr. Maya Rao. In 2004, he dabbled in the adaptation of Evam Inderjit under the direction of Pawan Kumar. Then, he did acting workshop by Indian director, Mahesh Dattani. Akul was married to Jyothi, the niece of Indian film actress and director Vijaya Nirmala. Krishaan Nag is the name of Akul and Jyothi’s son.

Akul started as a small screen actor, it’s been a long way by shaping a place for him as a nifty actor and TV host in the show, Kartanaka. He also received The Most Popular Anchor Award from the Big FM Big TV in 2010. He also hosted hit shows like Kuniyonu Baara and Zee Kannada’s Comedy Killadigalu. He hosted reality shows like the Season 1 and 2 of Pyate Hudgir Halli Lifu, Pyate Mandi Kadige Bandru 1 and 2, Halli Haida Pyateg Banda, Nodi Swamy Naavirode Heege and Hosa Luv Story. Akul also hosted game shows like Mane Munde Mahalakshmi on ETV Kannada and INDIAN. He was also the host of Zee Telugu’s Sye Ante Sye. As of now, he is the host of the Kannada reality show, Thaka Dhimi Tha Dancing star on ETV Kannada and he also joined the Bigg Boss Kannada 2 this year.

Aside from hosting, Akul also tried his luck in television serials like Agatha in 2002, Guptha Gamini on ETV Kannada, Pellinati Pramanalu on Zee Telugu in 2012, Yava Janumadha Maithri on ETV Kannada and more. He also did films like Milana, Athmeeya, Banni, Neramu Siksha, and Myna. Crazy Star and currently doing films like Love on NH4, Devarawne Bidu Guru, Shubha Vivaha and Ranadheera.