Entertaining people, making them laugh and cry was a way of life for Prit Kamani. His love for acting was nurtured by his parents which began to grow and bloom into a passion. As a child, Prit was drawn to the stage and there was a yearning to perform, in any form and express himself. He is indeed blessed to have had the support on the home front.
Prit was born in 1994 in Rajkot. The Kamani family was a middle-class family based in Rajkot, Gujarat. Prit’s father was a self-employed business man and his mother a homemaker.
Prit’s father, Mr. Haren Kamani, saw early signs of a star in his son. He noticed that Prit would easily and flawlessly mimic actors, say dialogues with right emotions and remain in character for days after he watches any film. Prit was very good at dancing without any training, and he was very confident to perform in front of an audience. So his family decided that it was necessary to shift to Mumbai to provide a platform to this boy. It was definitely not easy but it was necessary. So after the 2001 earthquake, they shifted to the city of dreams, Mumbai. Prit went to Rustomjee Cambridge International School, Mumbai and subsequently completed his BMM from UPG College in Mumbai. And he aced both the school and college life with several achievements ranging from sports, to dance, to music and of course acting. At the same time due to support from his teachers and parents, he achieved fantastic results on the academic front as well. While working as a child actor, he always maintained above average results in education but in the 10th grade he was a world topper in biology, and at that point, Prit Kamani almost decided to become a biotech engineer.
But his destiny guided him to the Bollywood hub of Mumbai, Mithibaicollege where great actors have studied. Prit left a mark their too with his performances in theater, street plays and dance. He then graduated in BMM at UPG college, his 3 formative years, because it was easy to stand out in the comfort zone of school, but tough to compete with students from around the country. Inter-college competitions, rejection at auditions, competition from fellow students made him a better actor and helped him learn from his mistakes.
As of today, in 2020, Prit Kamani, the 26 year old heartthrob, is a rising star, very popular among the youth of the country, and very well known for his work in Maska, and of course the “harghoont Mein swag” ad for Pepsi just made him an overnight star. In 2015, the Tata Sky lovestory ads also become very popular.
The transition was apparent and he bagged lead roles in two movies, and the third is yet to release. Prit also indulged in hosting and anchoring TV shows, few cameos in TV serials, and also in award-winning short films.
In 2003, his father through an acquaintance got to know about auditions for kids for an advertisement. Without a second thought, Mr. Haren left everything to give Prit an opportunity. At the age of 7, Prit cracked the audition and got his first break. Once the ball started rolling, there was no stopping within a few months he was seen in a lot of tv ads. He soon got his first TV show, as a lead, called “J bole tooJadoo” on Nickelodeon Channel. He then did the role of a specially-abled kid for the reboot of Shaktimaan that was aired on the Pogo Chanel. His love for acting kept growing with time and so did his skills. He learnt everything by observing and being on set, from his directors, co-actors. He never missed an opportunity to entertain an audience both in school and college.
Convincing movie makers and directors with his advertisement modeling credentials was not difficult. Adapting to different characters, accents, was his second nature. He is a Gujarati-Jain boy brought up in Mumbai but in his very first film he flawlessly played a character from Uttar-Pradesh, Noida, and nobody guessed he was a Gujarati. In his second film he portrays a 19 year old Parsi boy from south Mumbai, and he’s very convincing here as well.
An actor who made an impact in every way is what he wanted in the long run. Prit has shared stage with his idol Shahrukh Khan, and the likes of Karan Johar, A.R. Rahman, worked with Sharmila Tagore for the Tata Sky ads, Sara Ali Khan in the the Vivo ad. All these experiences just added to his confidence.
Over the years, he endorsed many big brand like Cadbury, Apple ( iPhone) , Center fresh, Bingo (ITC), Nestle’ Maggi, Close up, Vodafone besides Pepsi and Tata Sky. Along with TV ad films, Prit got the opportunity to host TV shows like “Arrived” and “Dil Hai Hindustani”. The twitch of nervousness while facing big stars in the audience is natural and Prit was not different. Correcting his mistakes and taking on criticism positively is the key, especially when renowned stars themselves confess of having committed blunders in their careers!
He conceptualized, directed and produced a short film “Tohkab?” for swachh Bharat abhiyaan which was recognised and awarded by the I&B ministry of the govt. of India and National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). This is yet another highlight in his list of achievements, his love for film making. Later in 2017 he acted in a short film “ #Letters” that garnered over 2M views in just 48 hours.
In the movie “Maska” which released on 27th March, 2020 on the global platform of Netflix, he played the protagonist and worked with the great actors like Javed Jaffery, Boman Irani, and Manisha Koirala. The film received good reviews and Prit’s performance was loved by the audience and critics.
Late last year he was invited for a TEDx talk, which is a big feather in his cap. A platform that is viewed and heard by many and one that brings on only the best!
Struggles are part and parcel of achieving anything in life. Prit had his share too. Coming from a middle-class family, risk is another word for fear, especially not having a godfather or mentor in the industry. In 15 years Prit must have nearly given more than 2000 audition, and rejection in high numbers can become very frustrating at times. These experiences are the lessons that made him resilient. Having not gone formally to any acting school this itself was his school for learning the nuances of his craft.
In 2017 he got his first film “Hum Chaar” and Sooraj Barjatya gave him a break in a Rajshri production. For over a year, the whole team worked very hard on the film. But, the struggle wasn’t over yet. The film released with a very low distribution and at the same time as Gully Boy. So his first film, went unnoticed. Though Prit received good reviews for his debut performance, and later a lot more people watched it online on zee5. He was happy that at least his first film released, and shared the release along with great actors like Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt.
Being an artist is more or less choosing a life of a Joker, people will mock you, make fun of you, laugh at you, and no matter how you are feeling, you have to put a smile on your face, be nice to them and entertain them. His first film didn’t achieve what he dreamt but just a month later a 40 seconds adfilm, for Pepsi made him very popular, and the ad became a huge success because of Prit. Today Prit has two films at his credit and a two more that he will be shooting and he thinks that just sustaining and being offered films as a lead actor is a big achievement for him.
He says if one wants to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, she/he first has to be very sure about it. This industry has many challenges and it demands a lot of sacrifice. It’s easy to get demotivated. Only those who have the passion from within can stick around and sustain long enough for that golden moment to strike. And to know if you are meant for it, you have to be real and honest to yourself.
A dialogue from his film Maska is the essence of his message. “There is a difference between dreams and delusions. One needs to choose, accept and love even the struggle, so be sure before you take the plunge.” says Prit Kamani.
