Pradhuman: The 9-year-old budding star of Udaipur

He came home holding a cheerful smile on his face and sparkles in his eyes and told his parents that he got selected for a film after giving audition held in his school.

9-year-old Pradhuman Singh Choudhary was completely new to the camera but his original expressions and innocent looks grabbed the attention of Ridham Jhanve, director of Kanche aur Postcard, a short film recently selected in the 44^th International Film Festival of India, Goa.

Ridham had conducted auditions in three schools of Udaipur and finally picked Pradhuman, student of class 5^th at Maharana Mewar Vidya Mandir to play the lead role.

“I found that, Pradhuman has a natural talent of holding expressions for long time, which is very rare and difficult as well. He did not require any polishing nor assistance in delivering dialogues, he himself grasped the required tone and pitch for the shot” said Ridham.

By appearance Pradhuman is just like any other mischievous child of his age. He loves to play computer games on his dad’s laptop and collecting toy motorbikes. Pradhuman’s father Shankar Choudhary, lecturer in Pacific College said that, “Pradhuman is very naughty but also performs well in studies.”

He also informed about Padhuman’s special interest in drama and reciting dialouge from movies he watches.

In the film Kanche aur Postcard, Pardhuman has played the role of a small boy named Vipin, who goes to his grandmother’s house on vacation. There he meets some boys bit older to his age, they often play games of marbles (kanche) but Vipin’s uncle don’t want him to join them.

The story starts when Vipin’s grandmother gives him money to buy postcard and Vipin buys Kanche with the remaining money.

The film revolves around the life of Vipin, his thoughts and also reminds of the often-overlooked yet very essential differences of perception and understanding between children and adults.

On the day when Pradhuman told his parents about his selection, initially his mother refused him to act in the film but Director and filmmaker Ridham Janve successfully convinced her, promising he will not let his studies suffer. The shooting continued for two months in old city area of Udaipur.

At first when Pradhuman faced camera he felt very shy, while talking to UT, Pradhuman said “I felt uncomfortable and shy as everyone was staring at me on the set while I had to deliver the dialouge”.

About his favourite film stars, Pradhuman said he likes watching films of Hritik Roshan and Ajay Devgan.

The news of the film getting selected in IFFI bought appreciation for him in school as well as in his family. School’s teachers and students said “ab humare school mein actor bhi padta hai”.This made him and his parents proud.

During the shoot many people from set approached Pradhuman to give an autograph but he denied due to nervousness.

After the film, Pradhuman is very confident about his skills and looking forward for more opportunities.