She is pretty, charming and a fresh talent to look out for. She is none other than Pranati Rai Prakash. Hailing from Patna, she won India's Next Top Model 2016 title and also starred in Imtiaz Ali's Love Aaj Kal with Kartik Aaryan and Sara Ali Khan. Now, after making a mark in films and modelling world, Pranati who was a contestant of Rohit Shetty-Karan Johar hosted India's Next Superstars, made a transition from the big screen to the web with MX Player's Mannphodganj Ki Binny.
With the release of her series, Pranati is bagging accolades for the performance as Binny Bajpai who shells out major Geet from Jab We Met vibes. Talking in an exclusive conversation, the budding actress spilled beans on her career transition, the series and what went behind making it.
Excerpts from the chat:
How did the transition from modelling to the web happen?
I started modeling in college and it's something that I really enjoyed a lot and I was fortunate enough to get more opportunities. I believe that there is time for everything. While in college I didn't have enough time that I could pursue acting full-fledged so I was modeling and doing well at it. Eventually, I got graduated and enrolled myself in an acting school and things got serious as an actor. It’s been a great journey so far. I really enjoy the web series these days. My web series Mannphodganj Ki Binny just released. There is so much that I could learn and do in the series. It's just been a pursuit to do what I love and it has brought me here.
You are confused about the matters of love and heart in the show. Has something similar happened in real life?
Absolutely, I think in all matters of love and heart it's always so confusing because you end up thinking so much and overthinking about things that are close to you and I am a very emotional person, so I do get confused. I think love makes you believe in a world that is full of fantasies but at the same time it is so important to be grounded and remain practical and rational and that's where the contradictions arise. I am sure I have been confused in the matter of love and heart. I am a romantic person. I have been single for a while right now because work is such a major part of my life and I am so much in love with my work and I am very passionate for it, so it consumes me and that's the situation presently but let's see when I get confused in the matter of love again.
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Is your character relatable or did you prepare for the role well?
I think every person is relatable if you just try to be more observing and try to sink with an open mind and be flexible. I think you will pretty much find something relatable about every person here. Binny definitely has so much more potential for me to be understood and be relatable. She is a young girl in her early 20s and so am I. We have a similar spirit in terms of our energy and positivity and the thrill-seeking attitude in life. These are the similarities and also, I think that she is this romantic girl and chasing things that she wishes for herself in life and the life that she wants to live. These are the aspects in which I think we have similar and it usually is our thought process and our outlook towards life. Things that were needed to prepare was the background that I come from, the way I speak. If I had to put it all together, I can say that in terms of projection is where I had to put in my acting skills to understand her background and why is her perception towards certain things in a certain way and what would be the pursuit of a small-town girl. For that, also combined with the language, with the way she speaks, the way she addresses her parents, the chemistry she has with the boys. We read the script many times and tried to just to more of an observation on characters on women from Allahabad. My home town is Patna and I could again find some similarities there. The director and the writer helped me a lot to get closer to the character and its projections.
Binny gives Geet like vibes from Jab We Met. Do you agree, or not? Why?
I am really very fond of her and I think she is such an adorable character. Binny could give Geet like vibes in a way that she is also very positive and happy go lucky. Along with that, she is also a risk-taker and she does what comes to her heart. The only will that she lets exercise is her own and she wants to live her life on her own conditions and this could possibly give Geet like vibes.
Why OTT and not films?
I have done two films and I have done two web series, so I think it just balances it out. I would definitely love to do many more films but I think the script, the character and the team should be of great importance while selecting a particular project so let's see when I will get the right project so that you can see me in the theatre again
People say models can’t act and you have won a supermodel contest. What is your opinion on this?
I have always disliked stereotypes and I think it's really stupid to say foolish things like this. There are many people who have multiple professions who are lawyers and doctors at the same time and I think I would never want to bound myself into something so little. I have been a sports person, an athlete, a topper in my college, won several painting competitions, got admitted into India's best fashion College so I think I have cracked so many bigger things and achieved so many bigger goals in life. For me acting means doing anything with complete conviction. If I am out there on the screen, playing a certain role and if you believe I am that person then I think I have done my job decently well. Acting is like any other sport, the more you practice the better you get at it. I have the attitude of working on my skills and getting better at it and I think I just want to grow more and more as an actor and do a great job
Why one should watch your series?
I think and I insist that everyone out there should watch my series Mannphodganj Ki Binny at least once because we are all Indians and it’s majorly the reason why I think you should definitely give it a watch. Because the series in entirety captures the essence of India, the heart of India, how the people are and what their aspirations are and how the very normal local people of India are. Basically, in the simplest way I can say that it captures the essence of India and I love it because I watched it thrice and I loved myself so much and I love comedy as a genre and it is a comedy-drama with a dash of romance for you all, so you also get to watch me romancing around and it’s got some amazing performances, my parents are Alka ma'am (Alka Kaushal) and Atul sir (Atul Srivastava) and they are veteran actors and they are amazing at their work and beyond them, all the other actors like the shooters, my fellow co-actors, my best friend, the other gang of boys with Rajaji. I think everyone’s done a fantastic job. I really enjoyed their performance while watching the series. Beyond that I feel it’s a really well-made series, well from the little experience that I have, I have studied film and fashion in college. Since I have studied fashion designing and in our 4th year we had film and fashion where we actually studied about films as well and you know there are so many aspects that go into the making of a film, from the writing to everything that goes in the set to the post-production and everyone has tried to put their best work into making this series. It is a well-made content and I can vouch for it and it's been written beautifully, it’s adapted from Band Baaja Boys which is written by Rachna Singh. She herself is from Uttar Pradesh, so the story comes right from someone who is a local and we have tried to be as authentic and realistic as we can while keeping a little cartoonish touch too, it adds a little fantasy kind of a thing to the characters, so a little animated and fun to watch and it keeps you engaged through and through, so I cannot give you more reasons to watch it. So, go watch Mannphodganj Ki Binny and laugh as it’s a joy ride and have fun. I really hope you like it. And also, Vikas Chandra sir is our director, Imtiaz sir also directed us and of course, it was also, so much of vision of the production team, of Diya ma’am, the entire creative team and there were so many inputs that we got from them. And there were layers of interpretation and it’s great teamwork all in all. I am really grateful that I could work with such a great team.
Mannphodganj Ki Binny is a 10 episodic series also featuring Anurag Sinha, Aru Krishnank, Abhinav Anand, Samar Vermani, Alka Kaushal, Atul Srivastava, Kritika and Fahmaan Khan in important roles. The MX Original Series is a dramedy adapted from the book Band Baaja Boys by Rachna Singh. It is written by Amitosh Nagpal and directed by Vikas Chandra. The show is produced for Applause Entertainment by Tony's and Deeya Singh’s DJ’s A Creative Unit.
