Pradeep Ranganathan is an Indian film director, actor and YouTuber who works predominantly in Tamil cinema.[2] He is known for directing Comali (2019) and Love Today (2022).[3][4][5] He debuted as a lead actor in Love Today.[6] He also runs a YouTube channel, that has 6.30 lakh subscribers as of December 2024.[1]
Career
Pradeep began his career by making several short films including Whatsapp Kadhal (2015) and he used to multi-task by doing acting, editing and directing.[7] He received his first feature film directorial debut opportunity from Jayam Ravi and Vels International who were impressed after watching some of his short films.[8]
He made his directorial debut with Comali in 2019 which starred Jayam Ravi and Kajal Aggarwal and the film became a commercial success at the box office. Pradeep Ranganathan also eventually made a cameo appearance during the climax portion of Comali.[9] He was the subject of controversy before the theatrical release of Comali as Rajinikanth's fans demanded the film to be boycotted due to the depiction of the flashback of Rajinikanth where he promised to enter the politics in 1996 being mentioned in a portion of the film trailer.[10][11] It was also a major talking point and highlight in the trailer of the film. The scene was subsequently removed from the film following the backlash.[12]
His second directorial venture, Love Today (2022) was based on his short film App(a) Lock and was a modest small budgeted theatrical release in Tamil Nadu. However, upon release, it became an instant blockbuster and surpassed expectations.[13][14][15] Ranganathan rose to prominence and became an overnight sensation with Love Today. He also made his full-fledged acting debut with the film, playing the main male lead.[16][8] He later revealed that love today reflects and relates to everyone, as everyone would have faced these situations in their life.[17]
