Vinaya Prakash (née Bhat), (22 November 1967)^[1] also credited as Vinaya Prasad, is an Indian actress who has featured primarily in Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil films and television series besides acting in Telugu language films.^[2]

Vinaya Prasad hails from Udupi district of Karnataka state. Prasad made her film debut with a small role in G. V. Iyer's Madhwacharya in 1986. She worked in smaller character roles before playing the leading lady in Ganeshana Maduve opposite Anant Nag. The film was a huge success and she went on to act in many more films in not only Kannada but also Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu. Some of her notable Kannada films include Ganeshana Maduve, Neenu Nakkare Haalu Sakkare, Gauri Ganesha, Mysore Jaana and Suryodaya. She starred in a supporting role in the all-time blockbuster Manichitrathazhu, opposite Mohanlal. In Tamil, Prasad has acted as the heroine in the hit movie Thaikulame Thaikulame with Pandiarajan and Urvashi starring. In Telugu, her movies include Indra, Donga Dongadi and Andhrudu, for which her performance won a lot of praise.

After a successful career as a lead actress, Prasad switched over to character roles in South Indian films and remains a sought-after actress in Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu movies. Prasad is also an effective compere and singer. Prasad has compered several important events like Vasantha Habba in Nrityagram and the annual Dasara procession in Mysore. She has starred in the longest-running and most popular daily soap opera on Malayalam TV, Sthree, which aired from late 1998 to mid 2000 on Asianet television channel. The popularity of this soap made her a household name among Malayalis. In 2006, she returned to the Malayalam small screen to reprise her role as Indu in the sequel to the original Sthree, also named, Sthree.

Vinaya is from the Udupi district in Karnataka and was raised in Udupi. In 1988, she married V. R. K. Prasad, a director and editor of Kannada films, who died at a young age.^[3][2]

In 2002, Vinaya married Jyotiprakash and currently resides in Bangalore with her husband and daughter Prathama Prasad.^[3] Jyotiprakash has a son named Jay, from his previous marriage, who is into film direction and screenwriting in Mumbai.^[4]

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