For seven-year-old Praanya P Rao, the movie atmosphere in Hyderabad is relatively new. Nani-starrer Gang Leader is her debut film that will hit the screens this week, her second movie Aatakkuntu Lekkakkilla in Kannada will also be out. Also, she has to shoot for 777 Charlie that has Rakshith Shetty in the lead and Sorry Kaveri in which she plays a central role. Praanya’s parents spotted her talent when she was three and encouraged and explained what is expected out of her. Her mother Sukanya quit her job to raise her two daughters and got into theatre to learn drama. She would tag Praanya for rehearsals and the girl would keenly observe. At home, she would mimic every character and reel out the dialogues with mannerisms. Her memory was that elephantine.
Praanya
Praanya in Kannada means a scholar and she seems to be heading that way in the field of performing arts. Sharp, precocious…this little girl from Karnataka is an absolute delight to talk to. She doesn’t need any coaxing and just takes off. She likes dancing, singing and plays with her one-a-half-year-old sister Manini. Tell her, you’d take her sibling away for a day, she retorts, “Oh please do! She troubles me and , takes away my bag. I don’t want her in my school, she will go in another bus.”
Praanya’s father Praveen says she loves make up, costumes and dresses her up. No one prompts her in the plays that she performs. The play goes on for hours but she is a picture of patience and does her part like a true professional. She was five when she did a serial skit on television and enacted 27 roles. She wants to be a teacher and give easy tests to the students. Her goals change every week as onceshe wanted to be a princess. Praanya has won innumerable awards and has also dubbed for Gang Leader .
Ask her what she liked about the film and Hyderabad, she says, “I liked Gang Leader and also Nani Sir; He plays with me and shows magic. He even brought his son along. Director sir explains the scene to me in English and Lakshmi ma’am talks to me in Kannada. I don’t like Hyderabad; the food is spicy. I like what my mother makes.”
Her mother Sukanya travels with her and helps Praanya with her dialogues when assistant directors narrate the scenes in Telugu. Praanya understands and speaks English well for her age. “In one scene, Nani had to serve dosas and before everyone could get ready for the shot, Praanya ate it. The people around her were in splits as she was supposed to eat only when the director says ‘action’. The team ordered for dosas again and told her when to eat it. But this time, she didn’t eat because she didn’t like the look of dosas and wanted to exchange it with a co-actor,” laughs Sukanya.
