Pranutan Bahl came into films in 2019 with Salman Khan Films’ Notebook. She was paired opposite another debutante Zaheer Iqbal. The film told the story of a young retired army officer who joins his father's school as a teacher to save it from closure, and falls in love with the previous teacher after reading through her memorabilia left behind in the drawers.
Pranutan comes from a family of actors that have had a foothold in the industry for a long time. Her grandmother was yesteryear legend Nutan, while her father is Mohnish Bahl, who has been a part of several memorable and blockbuster films throughout his career, including films like Hum Aapke Hain Koun, Hum Saath Saath Hain and Maine Pyaar Kiya.
Given that we live in an era of remakes, when asked, if she had to work in the remake of any of her father’s films, which one would it be, Pranutan responds, “Firstly, I just want to say that classics shouldn’t be remade because however much we try, we can never reach them. Having said that, if given a choice, I would definitely choose to be a part of Astitva.”
Astitva was a 2000 bilingual film which was released in both Hindi and Marathi. The film was written and directed by Mahesh Manjrekar and featured Tabu in the lead role, alongside Sachin Khedekar and Pranutan’s father, Mohnish. It tells the story of Aditi Pandit, a happily married woman whose husband Srikant becomes suspicious when she unexpectedly receives a fortune willed to her by her former music teacher, Malhar Kamat. Srikant Pandit tries to figure out why she had received inheritance from Kamat, many years after the music classes had ended, and subsequently makes a discovery.
So, is it her father’s part that she would like to reprise in a role reversal scenario? “I am too selfish, so I want to do Tabu ma’am’s part. I am a very selfish actor who just wants to be there all the time. But I would say it again that she is untouchable, so this is all hypothetical,” Pranutan insists. Astitva is considered Tabu’s one of the best performances till date which earned her several awards and the film itself went on to win the National Award For Best feature Film In Marathi.
Image Source: Instagram/mohnish_bahl/pranutan