Prem Kumar (born 18 April 1976), known mononymously as Prem, also popularly called as Nenapirali Prem, is an Indian actor and producer who works in Kannada films. He made his acting debut through the film Praana (2004). However, his major break came through the film Nenapirali (2005) for which he won his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor. Since then, Prem is largely offered films with romantic theme thereby, earning the title Lovely Star in Kannada cinema. Prem also produced the film Pallakki (2007) besides acting in the lead role.

Prem's other notable films include Jothe Jotheyali (2006), Pallakki (2007), Gunavantha (2007), Savi Savi Nenapu (2007) , Charminar (2013), for which he won his second Filmfare award, Chowka (2017) and Premam Poojyam (2021), which marked his 25th film as an actor.

Prem was born in Bangalore in 1976. His father was a power loom weaver and an avid movie watcher. He completed his higher secondary schooling at a Government school and got himself enrolled to pursue ITI. He was duped of the money while enrolling into ITI and eventually landed up working along with his father at the power loom. While he was at work, he used to watch films and often accompany his father to the theaters. One of his friends, who was the driver of director T. N. Seetharam, persuaded him to try his luck in acting either in big screen or television. Initially dismissing his suggestion, Prem had to reluctantly heed owing to his losses at the loom. He was taken to the sets of Seetharam's Manvantara serial to act as a junior artist in 2001. He ended up featuring in eight episodes of the serial and also featured in one episode of other serial, Ardha Satya.

Prem began his film career through debutant director Prakash's Praana (2004) after a successful audition. The film's cast and crew consisted of newcomers with Prem pairing with actress Preethi Chandrashekar. It was revealed in an interview that Prem took up acting seriously only during the making of this film. Despite doing good business and receiving favorable reviews, the film was removed off theaters after a four-week run.

Prem's first commercially successful film as a lead actor was the romantic drama Nenapirali (2005). The film, directed by Ratnaja and produced by Ajay Gowda, featured him in the lead role opposite Vidhya Venkatesh and Varsha. The film's music by Hamsalekha was highly acclaimed and upon release, it received positive reviews and was declared a musical blockbuster. Prem earned his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his performance in the film. The film's popularity led to the title being tagged with Prem's name among media and audiences. The success of this film fetched him his second successful film Jothe Jotheyali (2006) which was directed by Dinakar Thoogudeepa and co-produced by his brother Darshan under their home banner "Thoogudeepa Productions". Prem was paired opposite Ramya and played the role of a struggling ad film maker and marrying an established bank employee which eventually result in a troubled relationship. The film received positive reviews from critics and was commercially successful.

In 2007, Prem launched his production venture "P2 Productions" and produced his maiden film, Pallakki. Directed by K. Narendra Babu, the film starred Prem opposite newcomer Ramanithu Choudhary. Despite receiving negative reviews from critics, the film was successful at the box office with over 100 days run at the theaters. Following this, in the same year, his next release was cinematographer Santhosh Rai Pathaje's romantic drama, Savi Savi Nenapu which featured him in dual roles opposite Mallika Kapoor and Tejaswini Prakash. He wrapped up the year with yet another romantic drama Gunavantha, where he paired with Rekha Vedavyas, which was a sleeper hit at the box-office. In 2008, Prem teamed up with Rathaja again for his second directorial film, Honganasu. Anuradha Mehta and Anjali were paired opposite him which saw a moderate success at the box-office.

In 2009, Prem appeared in Ghauttham, a remake of the Tamil film Aahaa..!. Having expressed his aversion towards acting in remake films, he took up this film since there were no other offers for him during the year.

In 2010, he teamed up with heroine Ramya for the film Jothegara. Other films which he signed are Sihi Muttu, alongside Dhyan and Pooja Chopra, Januma Janumadallu with Andrita Ray, a cameo in Shivarajkumar's travel extravaganza Cheluveye Ninne Nodalu and also in Eradane Maduve.^{[unreliable source?]}