Pranav Mohanlal

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 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
Pranav Mohanlal was born on 13 July 1990 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.

Pranav completed his schooling from a boarding school, the Hebron School, in Ooty, Tamil Nadu. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in philosophy from the University of New South Wales in Australia. 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 [knowing] my 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 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. 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 in a song in Sagar Alias Jacky Reloaded in 2009. 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".

In 2014, Pranav began working as an assistant director under Jeethu Joseph in the Tamil film Papanasam (2015), starring Kamal Haasan. 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 Aadhi began principal photography 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 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 Priyadarshan-directed period film Marakkar: Arabikadalinte Simham (2020), starring Mohanlal. In 2020, he began filming Hridayam, written and directed by Vineeth Sreenivasan. 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).

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 for the film Aadhi.