Mohan (born 23 August 1956 as Mohan Rao) is a popular Kollywood actor. He hails from the Udupi district of Karnataka. He derived his name Kokila Mohan after debuting in a film called Kokila, which starred Kamal Haasan in the lead role. He considers Balu Mahendra as his mentor. He has acted in Kannada films, Telugu films and Malayalam films, but his main contribution was to Tamil cinema where he has acted in over 80 films.