Pranav Mohanlal (born 13 July 1990) is an Indian actor and playback singer who works in

Malayalam cinema Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam, Malayalam language, primarily spoken in Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands. It encompasses both th ...

. The son of actor

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (; born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor and filmmaker who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hin ...

, 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). He graduated with a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in philosophy from the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...

. Pranav returned to films in 2015 as an

assistant director The role of an assistant director (AD) on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have ...

Jeethu Joseph Jeethu Joseph (born 10 November 1972) is an Indian film director, screenwriter, and producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. He has also worked in a few Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hindi and Telugu Cinema, Telugu films. Jeethu made his d ...

and worked in two films''

Papanasam Papanasam is a Panchayati raj in India, panchayat town in Thanjavur district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located from Thanjavur and from Kumbakonam. The name literally translates to "Destruction of Sins" in the Tamil language. It ...

'' and '' Life of Josutty''. He starred in the leading role in the 2018 film ''

Aadhi ''Aadhi'' is a 2018 Indian Malayalam-language action thriller film directed by Jeethu Joseph and produced by Antony Perumbavoor through Aashirvad Cinemas. The film stars Pranav Mohanlal in the title role (in his debut role) and with an ense ...

'', directed by Jeethu. He won the SIIMA Award for Best Debut Actor for the role. He also debuted as a

singer-songwriter A singer-songwriter is a musician who writes, composes, and performs their own musical material, including lyrics and melodies. In the United States, the category is built on the folk- acoustic tradition with a guitar, although this role has ...

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

Pranav Mohanlal was born on 13 July 1990 in

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the largest and ...

(now Thiruvananthapuram), Kerala in India to actor

and Suchitra Mohanlal. He has a younger sister, Vismaya Mohanlal. His maternal grandfather is the

Tamil film Tamil cinema is the segment of Indian cinema dedicated to the production of motion pictures in the Tamil language, the main spoken language in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is nicknamed Kollywood, a portmanteau of the names Kodambakkam, a Chen ...

producer K. Balaji and his maternal uncle Suresh Balaje is also a producer. Pranav completed his schooling from a boarding school, the Hebron School, in

Ooty Ooty (; officially Udagamandalam (), Anglicisation, anglicized: Ootacamund , abbreviated as Udagai, ) is a town and municipality in the Nilgiris district of the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north ...

, Tamil Nadu. He graduated with a

in philosophy from the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Pranav maintains a low profile life-style. 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 nowingmy personal life". Pranav learnt martial arts and is a trained traceur.

Career

Pranav made his screen debut in 2002, appearing in a minor role in the action crime drama '' Onnaman'', starring his father

and directed by

Thampi Kannanthanam Thampi Kannanthanam (11 December 1953 – 2 October 2018) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, producer and actor, who worked in Malayalam cinema. He has directed 16 films. Personal life Thampi was born on 11 December 1953 as the sixth so ...

. 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 Major A. K. Raveendran SM (born 13 June 1958) is a retired officer of the Indian Army, former National Security Guard commando, film actor and film director predominantly works in Malayalam cinema and some films in Tamil and Hindi. He was aw ...

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. 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. In between, he made a

cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...

in a song in '' Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded'' in 2009. Director

Priyadarshan Priyadarshan Soman Nair (born 30 January 1957) is an Indian film director and screenwriter. He has worked primarily in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam and Hindi cinema, Hindi cinema since 1982, directing over 90 films in multiple Indian languages, ...

, 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 ncinema". In 2014, Pranav began working as an

under

in the

'' (2015), starring

Kamal Haasan Parthasarathy Srinivasan (born 7 November 1954), known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Considered as one of the most accomplished actors of Indian Cinema, Haas ...

. 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. The action-thriller titled ''

'' began

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...

in August 2017 and was released in January 2018. 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. It was one of the highest-grossing Malayalam films of the year. His second film '' Irupathiyonnaam Noottaandu'' directed by Arun Gopy and produced by

Tomichan Mulakuppadam Thomas Antony, better known as Tomichan Mulakuppadam is an Indian businessman, film producer and film distributor who works in the Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film industry. He owns the production house Mulakuppadam Films. He is a Non-resident ...

was released in 2019, receiving mostly negative reviews and was a commercial failure. He appeared in a guest role as young Kunjali Marakkar IV in the

-directed period film '' Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham'' (2020), starring Mohanlal. In 2020, he began filming '' Hridayam,'' written and directed by

Vineeth Sreenivasan Vineeth Sreenivasan (born 1 October 1984) is an Indian actor, director, producer, dubbing artist, screenwriter, playback singer and lyricist who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema. He is the eldest son of actor and screenwriter Sreeniva ...

. 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).

Filmography

Awards

Pranav won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Child Artist in 2003 for his performance as a troubled child in the film '' Punarjani''. He won the Best Debut Actor award at the 8th SIIMA and the

Kerala Film Critics Association Awards The Kerala Film Critics Association Awards are presented annually by the Kerala Film Critics Association to honour both artistic and technical excellence of professionals in the Malayalam language film industry of India. The awards were instit ...

for the film ''

''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohanlal, Pranav 1990 births Living people Indian male child actors Male actors in Malayalam cinema Kerala Film Critics Awards winners Indian male film actors 21st-century Indian male actors Male actors from Thiruvananthapuram Hebron School alumni University of New South Wales alumni Kerala State Film Award winners Indian Hindus Malayali people Indian male singer-songwriters Indian singer-songwriters 21st-century Indian guitarists 21st-century Indian male singers 21st-century Indian singers Mohanlal