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Pragya Jaiswal is an Indian actress and model who is known for her work in in Telugu film industry. She is a former Miss India contestant.
Wiki/Biography
Pragya Jaiswal was born on Friday, 24 June 1988 (age 33 years; as of 2021) in Jabalpur city of Madhya Pradesh, India. Her zodiac sign is Cancer. She attended Symbiosis Law School, Pune for her primary and secondary education. Later. she got herself enrolled at the Symbiosis International University, Pune to pursue a degree in law.
Physical Appearance
Height (approx.): 5′ 9″
Weight (approx.): 55 kg
Figure Measurements (approx.): 34-26-34
Hair Colour: Brown
Eye Colour: Brown
Family
Parents & Siblings
Pragya Jaiswal’s mother’s name is Surekha Jaiswal and she is a homemaker.
Pragya Jaiswal with her father
Pragya Jaiswal with her mother
She has a younger sister named Pranjul Jaiswal.
Pragya Jaiswal with her sister
Career
Beauty Pageants
Pragya Jaiswal has participated Femina Miss India 2008 beauty contest. She was one of the contestant who won the title of Miss Fresh Face, Miss Dancing Queen and Miss Friend Earth by beauty contest Femina Miss India in 2008.
Acting
Pragya Jaiswal made her Tamil film debut with Kumar T written and directed bilingual thriller film ‘Virattu,’ which was released on
21 March 2014 under White Candy Entertainment. The film featured Pragya in the role of Mavi. The lead cast of the film included Sujiv, Erica Fernandes, Pragya Jaiswal, and Manobala. She received huge appreciation from the audience for her acting skills in her debut film. The Telugu version of the film titled ‘Dega’also featured Pragya in the role of Mavi.
In the same year she also made her Bollywood debut with Amit Vats’ directed hindi film ‘Titoo MBA.’ She played the role of Gulshan opposite Nishant Dahiya, Amit Mehra, Abhishek Kumar, and Satwant Kaur. The film was theatrically released on 21 November 2014. Talking about how she got the opportunity to work as a lead in the Bollywood film, she said,
I think destiny. I feel everything has its right time and y whenever the universe thinks you are ready for it, it will come to you. I never got impatient as I always had work down South. I was trying for Hindi films as well. Now, the time seems right and some good things are happening in life. So, let’s hope things get better soon so that I can talk about what I want to talk about.”
Next in 2015, Pragya Jaiswal bagged a role of Vasundara, opposite Varun Tej, in the Telugu movie ‘Mirchi Lanti Kurradu.’ She portrayed the character of the daughter of Seetha Devi, a very rich and wealthy lady, and loved a Hari Babu played by Varun Tej. She earned huge popularity for her role in the film and earned opportunities to work with renowned Telugu directors. Next, she featured in the Telugu-language romantic war film ‘Kanche.’ Other cast of the film include Varun Tej, Nikitin Dheer, Srinivas Avasarala, and Gollapudi Maruti Ra. Talking about her role in the film, the actress said,
I am really excited about the opportunity and i am looking forward to working on the project. I play a girl from 1930s. This character transported me to a different time zone. You know, even after the shoot got over, it took me a while to get back to my normal self. I got so involved in the project that even when I was at home, I’d wear a bindi, and my mom would ask me if everything was all right with me”
Because of its unusual tale and wonderful narration, the film was a great box office success. Pragya Jaiswal won several awards for her role in the film ‘Kanche,’ including the Zee Telugu Apsara Award for Best Debut Actress, 18th Ugadi Puraskaralu Award for Best Debut Actress, the CineMAA Award for Best Female Debut, the Filmfare Award for Best Debut Female (Telugu), and the SIIMA Award for Best Debutant Female (Telugu). It is considered unusual for a young actress to tackle a historical piece so early in her career, but Pragya defied expectations and won widespread acclaim. When asked why she chose such a bold job, she answered,
It really didn’t matter to me. Varun and I just surrendered to director Krish Jagarlamudi, and it was so much fun. I had auditioned for Akshay Kumar’s ‘Gabbar is Back.”
In 2017, she appeared in J. K. Bharavi’s Telugu-language devotional biographical film ‘Om Namo Venkatesaya.’ Nagarjuna, Anushka Shetty, Jagapathi Babu, Saurabh Raj Jain, Sai Kumar, and Pragya Jaiswal played the key roles in the film. The 144-minute film was released on 10 February 2017 under the production banner of AMR Sai Krupa Entertainment. Despite the fact that the film’s plot was well received, it did not fare well at the box office. Several news outlets said that the film’s failure was due to the performers’ lacklustre on-screen look. According to one of the media outlets,
The grandeur on display is unquestionable and the film is certainly a visual treat. But the actors, in their fine splendour, seem to dully run through the motions and the film fails to strike a chord overall.”
She then appeared in another Telugu-language film, this time in the action comedy genre. Sree Varun Atluri produced the film ‘Gunturodu,’ which was released on 3 March 2017 under the Claps & Whistles Entertainments brand. The film’s major cast was completed by Manchu Manoj, Pragya Jaiswal, Rajendra Prasad, Sampath Raj, and Rao Ramesh. Following that, she appeared in ‘Nakshatram,’ a Telugu-language action drama directed by Krishna Vamsi. Sundeep Kishan, Tanish, Regina Cassandra, Pragya Jaiswal, and Prakash Raj played the key parts in the film, which was released on 4 August 2017, under the production banners of Sri Chakra Media, Butta Bomma Creations, and Win Win Win Creations. Nandamuri Balakrishna’s newest film, ‘Akhanda,’ was released in theatres on 2 December 2021. Since its theatrical premiere, the film has received good reviews from both reviewers and audiences. Balakrishna and Pragya Jaiswal play the key roles in the commercial entertainment. Since the film’s OTT release, netizens haven’t stopped talking about it on social media, with #Akhanda becoming one of the top trending topics on Twitter today! The film’s social media reception has been largely good, with audiences praising Balakrishna’s portrayal.
My look in the film is very different. The director, Boyapati sir, went through my look from every single previous film of mine, and he made sure that I do something different and unique in this film, yet sticking to the character that I am playing. So that was a huge challenge for him, but he wanted to give complete changeover and freshness to my character,He has worked very hard and gone into every single detail to design this look for me, and I am really looking forward to the film’s release. I can’t wait for the audience to see our labour of love. It’s Boyapati sir’s film, so you know it’s going to be a theatre movie, and there is going to be a lot of action, drama and fun. It’s a super exciting story.”
In 2022, she appeared in the Hindi language music video ‘Main Chala,’ alongside Bollywood superstar Salman Khan. Guru Randhawa, a prominent Panjabi singer, and Iulia Vantur performed the song. Iulia Vantur’s debut collaboration with Guru Randhawa, the nearly three-minute song is a love ballad, and they have nailed it with their performance. The Bajrangi Bhaijaan actor was spotted with a beard and lengthy hair. While Guru Randhawa was dressed to the nines for the romantic performance, Iulia Vantur’s deep voice touched millions of hearts. On Friday (January 21), Bollywood actor Salman Khan released a trailer for the song, which left everyone speechless and took social media by storm.
I had to pinch myself that I was being a part of a romantic song with Salman sir. It’s a beautiful song. Guru Randhawa and Iulia Vantur have given their melodious voice to this romantic melody. I am pretty confident that the song will be liked by the people who are going to hear and watch it. It was lovely. I mean he is an amazing person and he is in this industry for the longest time more than 30 years so it feels like a blessing you know to work with him, to work with Guru to work with Pragya. It was a wonderful team and I am happy to be a part of this song. We mainly shot the song and there was a bit of dialogues that I had shot with Salman sir. But looking at the larger interest of the film, it was not retained. Our track was not going well with the story and this has been clarified in the past by Salman sir multiple times. But my favourite portion from the film is the song which is coming out now so it is the best thing that can happen so I am really happy and truly grateful.”
Awards & Honours
- 2016: 63rd Filmfare Awards South Best Female Debut for the film Kanche
- 2016: 5th SIIMA Best Female Debut (Telugu) for the film Kanche
- 2016: CineMAA Awards Best Female Debut for the film Kanche
- 2016: 18th Ugadi Puraskaralu Awards Best Female Debut for the film Kanche
- 2016: Zee Telugu Apsara Awards Find of the Year for the film Kanche
- 2016: TSR – TV9 National Film Awards Best Debut Actress for the film Kanche
Favourites
- Colour(s): Black, White, Red
Facts/Trivia
- The actress runs a Youtube channel named “Pragya Jaiswal.” She shares her quick cake recipes on the channel.
- She is avid dog lover and has pet dog in her home named Nico.
Pragya Jaiswal with her pet dog
- She was the brand ambassador for South India Shopping mall and R.S. Brothers for years 2016–2017.
- Pragya Jaiswal has featured in various advertisement including Reliance Digital, Ensure Health Drink, Dove Shampoo, Malabar Gold Jewelry, RS Brothers Jewelry, etc.
- Pragya Jaiswal has faith in Lord Ganesha. She also celebrates the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi at her home.
Pragya Jaiswal’s Instagram post
- Before starting a career in modelling and acting, the actress studied law for her higher studies. when asked about it she replied,
When I look back, I am not sure how it happened but it happened really organically. When I was in Law school in Pune, I did some modelling on the side for some pocket money. Acting after that was a natural progression. But moving to modelling from law, wasn’t something I thought much about. I was getting offers and I was taking them, but after finishing law school I understood that it wasn’t where my passion lied. I wanted to do more modelling and acting.”