City-based rapper Pranav Chaganty, draws our attention to his weekly rap session with interesting titles on social media. Ask him what the latest,“Kavana Dinamu Pranava Vidhamu”, means and he says with a smile, “Poetry day, my (pranava) way.” Indeed, he has carved a niche of his own, as he raps away in pure Telugu about everything from social issues to Hyderabad’s favourite snack pani puri. Not just that, he folds his hands solemnly and says, “Matrudevo Bhava,” before starting his rapid poetry. “My mother told me that I should pray to God before I start anything,” he explains.
A viral sensation
Currently known for being one of the few rappers who has popularised the genre in Telugu, Pranav didn’t always plan his career like this. “I’ve always had a love for writing, particularly in my mother tongue. I started off with writing songs and while I was struggling to find my place in the Tollywood industry as a lyricist, I dabbled with rap and it took off,” shares the 27-year-old. Pranav’s story is like any other engineering kid – but that was before he found his footing as an online rapping sensation with over five lakh views on his YouTube videos. “I was away at sea as an Electrical Engineer for a year in a shipping company before I quit and pursued writing. I was cut off from music the time I was at sea and that made me realise I couldn’t live without it. And as clichéd as it sounds, the first song I wrote was a break-up song,” he laughs. “I had written the Telugu Veera rap as an impulsive move and put it up online,” he says.
‘Tollywood, here I come’
Pranav receives calls from industry professionals to write for their movies, and for the rapper, it’s a new territory. “Most film and music directors give me a situation and ask me to give them a few lines right there. I wasn’t used to writing like that but that’s how it works. I’m starting to develop spontaneity,” gushes Pranav, elated about his prospects in the film industry.