Ashok Kumar Balakrishnan is an Indian actor who has appeared predominantly in Tamil films.
Originally from Thanjavur district, Ashok Kumar grew up in Mumbai. He was a Bharatanatyam dancer and won the Nrithyamayoor () Award from the Government of Maharashtra. He played Krishna in the Hindi television serial Krishna (1993-97). His film debut but was supposed to be Dishyum (2006), but he was subsequently removed from the film and replaced by Jiiva. He then made his feature film debut with R. T. Neason's Muruga (2007) and starred in Pidichirukku the following year. He made a special appearance as a Tamil actor in a song from the Malayalam film Mulla (2008). Ashok made his Telugu debut with the bilingual Kaki (2015), which was made by Vetrimaaran's assistant director. The film was released in Tamil two years later as Ka Ka Ka: Aabathin Arikuri (2017).
In 2019, he appeared in the multi-starrer movies such as Chithiram Pesuthadi 2 and Gangs of Madras. He also acted in the Malaysian film Unakkagathane released in 2020. He was seen in the crime series Kuruthi Kalam (2021) which was released on MX Player. In 2022, Ashok Kumar was seen successively in horror films such as Vidiyatha Iravondru Vendum, Bestie, and Mayathirai. In 2023, he was appeared in the action thriller, Vizhithelu. In 2024, he was appeared in the drama thriller E-mail.as well as part of a Kannada project called Sambhavami Yuge Yuge,and the fantasy thriller, Maya Puthagam. The, Ashok Kumar appeared in Lara (2025).