Pranav Mohanlal (born 13 July 1990) is an Indian actor and playback singer who works in Malayalam cinema. The son of actor Mohanlal, he made his debut as a child actor with a minor role in Onnaman (2002), followed by a leading role in Punarjani, for which he won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist (2003).

Pranav Mohanlal
Pranav in Irupathiyonnam Noottandu
Born (1990-07-13) 13 July 1990 (age 34)
Alma materUniversity of New South Wales
Occupations
  • Actor
  • playback singer
Years active2002–present
FatherMohanlal
Relatives
FamilyMohanlal-Balaji family
AwardsKerala State Film Awards (2003)

Pranav then left to pursue studies, distancing himself from cinema while developing an interest in travelling and books. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of New South Wales.

Pranav returned to films in 2015 as an assistant director to Jeethu Joseph and worked in two films—Papanasam and Life of Josutty. He starred 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 for the film by writing, singing and performing the song "Gypsy Women". He later worked in Hridayam (2022), which was both a critical and commercial success.

Early life

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Pranav Mohanlal was born on 13 July 1990[1] in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala in India to actor Mohanlal and his Tamil wife Suchitra Mohanlal. He has a younger sister, Vismaya Mohanlal. His maternal grandfather is the Tamil film producer K. Balaji and his maternal uncle Suresh Balaje is also a producer.[2]

Pranav completed his schooling from 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 life-style.[4][5] He is known for avoiding the media. When asked, he once explained: "I don't hate media. It is just that I believe that people have nothing to gain from [knowing] my personal life".[6] Pranav learnt martial arts and is a trained traceur.

Career

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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 version 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 education.[7] He stayed away from film industry and was not keen on returning to pursue acting, as 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 Haasan.[11] He continued working as an assistant in Jeethu's next 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 and was a commercial failure.[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] Released worldwide in January 2022, the film was well received by critics and was one of the highest-grossing films of the year. He collaborated again with Vineeth for Varshangalkku Shesham (2024).[21]

Filmography

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Key
Denotes films that have not yet been released
List of Pranav Mohanlal film credits
Year Title Role Notes Ref.
2002 Onnaman Ravisankar (childhood) Child artist [22]
2003 Punarjani Appu Won—Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist [23]
2009 Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded Youngster Cameo in song "Sagar Alias Jackie" [24]
2015 Papanasam Assistant director; Tamil film
Remake of Drishyam
[25]
Life of Josutty Assistant director [26]
2018 Aadhi Aditya Mohan/"Aadhi" Also singer-songwriter ("Gypsy Woman") [27]
2019 Irupathiyonnaam Noottaandu Appu [28]
2021 Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham Young Mammali / Kunjali Marakkar IV [29]
2022 Hridayam Arun Neelakandan [30]
2024 Varshangalkku Shesham Murali Vishwambaran [21]

Awards

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Pranav won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist in 2003 for his performance as a troubled child in the film Punarjani.[31] He won the Best Debut Actor award at the 8th SIIMA and the Kerala Film Critics Association Awards for the film Aadhi.[32]

References

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  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. ^ a b 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. 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. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  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. ^ "Vineeth Sreenivasan to release 'Hridayam' in January 2022". The New Indian Express. 27 October 2021. Archived from the original on 27 October 2021. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
  21. ^ a b "'Varshangalkku Shesham': Vineeth Sreenivasan brings together an ensemble cast for his next". The Hindu. 13 July 2023. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
  22. ^ Akhila Menon (14 April 2015). "Mohanlal And Pranav Mohanlal Back Together". Archived from the original on 4 February 2016. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
  23. ^ 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.
  24. ^ 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.
  25. ^ 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. {{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  26. ^ 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.
  27. ^ Sidhardhan, Sanjith (27 September 2017). "Pranav Mohanlal plays an aspiring music director in Aadhi". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 8 November 2017. Retrieved 8 November 2017.
  28. ^ "Pranav's next is with Arun Gopy". indiatimes. Archived from the original on 20 July 2018. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  29. ^ Cris (21 January 2019). "Pranav and I have a 'siblingish' bond in real life: Actor Kalyani Priyadarshan to TNM". The News Minute. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  30. ^ "Pranav and Kalyani teaming up for Vineeth Sreenivasan's 'Hridayam' excites Mohanlal-Priyadarshan-Sreenivasan fans". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 3 December 2019.
  31. ^ "2002 Kerala State Film Awards". Department of Information and Public Relations. 2002. Archived from the original on 7 July 2015. Retrieved 11 January 2015.
  32. ^ "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.
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