Pranav Mohanlal

Pranav Mohanlal (born 13 July 1990) is an Indian actor, singer, and songwriter, who works in Malayalam film industry. The son of actor Mohanlal, he began acting as a child with a minor role in his father's film Onnaman (2002), followed by a leading role in Punarjani in the same year, for which he won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist. He then decided to take a break from acting to focus on his studies. After that he kept a distance away from cinema and was not keen on returning to pursue acting anytime soon. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of New South Wales.

Pranav Mohanlal
Born	13 July 1990 Trivandrum, Kerala, India
Alma mater	University of New South Wales
Occupation	Actor singer songwriter
Years active	2002; 2009 2015–present
Parent(s)	Mohanlal Suchitra Balaji
Relatives	Vismaya Mohanlal (sister) K. Balaji (grandfather) Suresh Balaje (uncle)
Awards	Kerala State Film Awards

Pranav returned to films in 2015 as an assistant director to Jeethu Joseph and worked in two films—Papanasam and Life of Josutty. He appeared in the leading role in the 2018 film Aadhi, directed by Jeethu, which emerged as one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of the year. He won the SIIMA Award for Best Debut Actor for the role. He also debuted as a singer-songwriter with the film by writing, singing and performing the song "Gypsy Women".

Early and personal life

Pranav Mohanlal was born on 13 July 1990[1] in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala in India as the son of actor Mohanlal and Suchitra Balaji. He has a younger sister, Vismaya Mohanlal. His maternal-grandfather is the Tamil film producer K. Balaji and uncle Suresh Balaje is also a producer. Pranav completed his schooling staying in a boarding school, the Hebron School in Ooty, Tamil Nadu.[2] He graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of New South Wales in Australia.[3] Pranav maintains a low-profile lifestyle.[4][5] He is also known for avoiding the media. He explained: "I don't hate media. It is just that I believe that people have nothing to gain from [knowing] my personal life".[6]

Film career

Pranav made his screen debut in 2002, appearing in a minor role in the action crime drama Onnaman, starring his father Mohanlal and directed by Thampi Kannanthanam. He played the childhood of his father's character Ravisankar. In the same year, he acted in his first leading role in Punarjani, a drama directed by Major Ravi and Rajesh Amanakara. He played Appu, a troubled child who ran away from home thinking his parents love his younger brother more than him. His performance earned him the Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist. After that, he took a break to concentrate on his studies.[7] After that he kept a distance away from film industry and was not keen on returning to pursue acting anytime soon. He was interested in books and travel more than cinema.[8] In between, he made a cameo appearance in a song in Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded in 2009.[9] Director Priyadarshan, who is also their family friend said in an interview: "He is a terrific actor. I have seen him act in plays in school and he was selected as the best actor too ... But now, he says he does not want to be [in] cinema".[10]

In 2014, Pranav began working as an assistant director under Jeethu Joseph in the Tamil film Papanasam (2015), starring Kamal Hassan.[11] He continued working as an assistant in Jeethu's subsequent film Life of Josutty (2015) before departing. In September 2016, it was announced that he would be returning as an actor in a film to be directed by Jeethu and produced by Aashirvad Cinemas.[12] The action-thriller titled Aadhi began principal photography in August 2017 and was released in January 2018.[13] He wrote, sang and performed the English song "Gypsy Women" in the film. Aadhi received positive response, particularly for Pranav's parkour stunt; the film was a commercial success grossing ₹35 crore in a month.[14] It was one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of the year.[15][16] His second film Irupathiyonnaam Noottaandu directed by Arun Gopy and produced by Tomichan Mulakuppadam was released in 2019, receiving mostly negative reviews.[17][18] He appeared in a guest role as young Kunjali Marakkar IV in the Priyadarshan-directed period film Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham (2020) starring Mohanlal.[19] In 2020, he began filming Hridayam written and directed by Vineeth Sreenivasan.[20]

Filmography

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2002	Onnaman	Ravisankar (childhood)	Child actor	[21]
2002	Punarjani	Appu	Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist	[22]
2009	Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded	Teenager in the street	Cameo appearance in song "Sagar Alias Jackie"	[23]
2015	Papanasam	N/A	Assistant director; Tamil film	[24]
2015	Life of Josutty	N/A	Assistant director	[25]
2018	Aadhi	Aadhithya Mohan / Aadhi	Also singer-songwriter ("Gypsy Women")	[13]
2019	Irupathiyonnaam Noottaandu	Appu		[18]
2021	Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham	Kunjali Marakkar IV (young)	Cameo appearance	[19]
2021	Hridayam	TBA	Filming	[20]

Discography

• "Gypsy Woman" (2018, featured in Aadhi) – singer-songwriter

Accolades

Pranav won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist in 2002 for his performance as a troubled child in the film Punarjani.[26] He won the Best Debut Actor award at the 8th South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA) for the film Aadhi.[27]

References

1. Chandran, Cynthia (5 July 2017). "Suspense, is thy name Pranav?". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 9 November 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
2. Mohanlal, Pranav (30 September 2016). "സ്കൂൾ കഴിഞ്ഞ് പ്രണവ് 'മുങ്ങിയത്' എങ്ങോട്ട്?". Mathrubhumi (in Malayalam). Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
3. V. P., Nicy (1 September 2014). "Pranav Mohanlal Turns Assistant Director in Kamal Haasan's 'Papanasam'". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
4. Warrier, Unni K. (12 July 2017). "Walking the parenting tightrope like a real superstar". Malayala Manorama. Archived from the original on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
5. Prakash, Asha (8 July 2017). "Mohanlal opens up about Pranav". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 6 November 2019. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
6. Flix Mollywood (8 September 2017). "Is Pranav Mohanlal media shy?". The News Minute. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
7. Warrier, Shobha (13 April 2002). "Introducing Mohanlal's son-Pranav". Rediff.com. Archived from the original on 15 February 2017. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
8. Prakash, Asha (15 October 2013). "Pranav likes only books and travel: Mohanlal". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
9. Moviebuzz (January 2009). "Pranav acts with Daddy!". Sify. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
10. Nagarajan, Saraswathy (2 August 2013). "Reel adventures". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 6 September 2013. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
11. Pillai, Radhika C. "Pranav Mohanlal turns assistant director". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 30 August 2017. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
12. Vishal (30 September 2016). "Mohanlal announces son Pranav's acting launch as hero". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2016.
13. HT Correspondent (5 July 2017). "Mohanlal son Pranav's debut film announced, to be called Aadi". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 11 July 2017. Retrieved 12 July 2017.
14. Nair, Sree Prasad (21 February 2018). "Aadhi: Pranav Mohanlal's debut film emerges the first blockbuster of 2018". Catch News. Archived from the original on 4 March 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
15. Narayanan, Nirmal (27 December 2018). "Mollywood 2018: List of top 5 blockbusters that stormed box office". International Business Times. Archived from the original on 29 March 2019. Retrieved 2 March 2019.
16. Pais, Nichola (21 April 2018). "Star scions". The New Indian Express. Archived from the original on 24 April 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
17. Narayanan, Nirmal (2 January 2019). "Irupathiyonnaam Noottaandu box-office: Pranav Mohanlal film starts slow, collects less than Aadhi". International Business Times, India Edition. Archived from the original on 4 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
18. "Pranav to star in Arun Gopi directorial". Deccan Chronicle. 4 March 2018. Archived from the original on 4 March 2018. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
19. Onmanorama staff (25 June 2018). "Pranav to act in Kunjali Marakkar film". Malayala Manorama. Archived from the original on 16 February 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
20. Sidhardhan, Sanjith (15 February 2020). "Vineeth Sreenivasan's Hridayam begins filming". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 11 October 2020. Retrieved 16 February 2020.
21. Akhila Menon (14 April 2015). "Mohanlal And Pranav Mohanlal Back Together". Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
22. Nayar, Parvathy S. (1 December 2012). "Is the stage set for Pranav Mohanlal's Mollywood entry?". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
23. Prakash, Asha (3 October 2013). "Pranav is not doing a Mani Ratnam film". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 12 March 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
24. DC Correspondent (2 September 2014). "Mohanlal's son Pranav turns Assistand Director in Papanasam". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
25. Soman, Deepa (18 February 2015). "Pranav is a role model: Jeethu Joseph". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 1 September 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
26. "2002 Kerala State Film Awards". Department of Information and Public Relations. 2002. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
27. "SIIMA 2019 winners full list: Dhanush, Trisha, Prithviraj win big". The Indian Express. 17 August 2019. Archived from the original on 17 August 2019. Retrieved 17 August 2019.

External links

• Pranav Mohanlal at IMDb
• Pranav Mohanlal on Facebook