Pradeep Ranganathan wins Best Actor, hands the credit to Ravi Mohan

Pradeep Ranganathan took Best Actor at the Ananda Vikatan Cinema Awards, and the man who put the trophy in his hands was the same man he spent his speech thanking. Ravi Mohan presented the award, given for Dragon and Dude, the two 2025 releases that turned Pradeep from a director-who-acts into one of the surest box-office draws in the industry. By the time he reached the microphone, the composure was gone.

“I usually don’t get nervous on stage. But today is different, because I’m receiving this award from Ravi sir,” he said. “No matter how old we get, we’re always children in front of our mother. That’s exactly how this feels. It’s been seven years since Comali, but even now, when I see Ravi sir calling me, my heartbeat goes up.” Then the line that ran everywhere afterward: “If people notice good qualities in me on a set, Ravi sir deserves the credit. If I have any bad habits, that’s on me alone.”

The bond goes back to 2019, when Pradeep made his directorial debut with Comali and cast Ravi Mohan in the lead. He was the newcomer behind the camera; Ravi was the established star in front of it. “During Comali, Ravi sir kept telling me I was a good actor,” Pradeep said. “He saw the actor in me before I did. He gave me the permission and the push to chase that, and that’s the only reason I’m standing here.”

He also used the stage to talk about expectation, and the long wait for one. “When I came into cinema I never thought I’d win awards, because I assumed I’d only make mass commercial films. I hoped for a Best Debut during Love Today, and it didn’t come. Now, in a single year, I’ve got Best Actor for two films. Life keeps its own accounts even when ours don’t add up, so don’t lose heart if something doesn’t arrive on time. It comes.”

The mood turned playful when Ravi Mohan, now a director himself, made his move on stage. “You directed me in Comali. Now I’ve become a director, and I want to direct you,” he said. Pradeep smiled and told him he would sign on once he wrapped his current commitments. Ravi pressed the point, laying out a hypothetical: if Vetri Maaran, Mani Ratnam, Ashwath Marimuthu and he all asked for the dates at once, who gets priority? Without a pause, Pradeep said Ravi would be his first choice, and that he would block the dates for that film first. If it actually happens, the two swap chairs completely, the man Pradeep once directed directing him.

Ravi Mohan has the slate to make good on it. He is shooting his own directorial debut, An Ordinary Man with Yogi Babu, runs Ravi Mohan Studios, and recently joined Benz, the Lokesh Cinematic Universe entry alongside Raghava Lawrence and Nivin Pauly, with Karathey Babu due in August. Pradeep, last seen in Love Insurance Kompany, is stepping up as a producer, backing a woman-centric film with Mamitha Baiju and Ashwath Marimuthu. A director for that one is still open. Whether Ravi Mohan ends up taking the seat is now a live question, and Pradeep answered it on stage before anyone thought to ask.