Theatre
As a student, Pradeep was equally interested in sports and theatre. However, during late college days he decided to entirely focus on theatre. This was the time of experimental theatre in Marathi and legendary thespians like Vijaya Mehta, Madhav Watve and others were leading the movement. Pradeep spent the initial days of his career in Rangayan, the beacon of experimental theatre in Marathi. Though his work almost entirely consisted of backstage activity, the learning was enormous. He has worked with many legendary writers like V. V. Shirwadkar, Jaywant Dalvi, P. L. Deshpande. P. L. Mayekar, C. P. Deshpande, Vasant Kanetkar, Sai Paranjape, Suresh Khare and new playrights like Nitin Dixit, Mayuri Deshmukh and Gangaram Gawankar. The influence of great artists like Vijaya Mehta, Arun Joglekar and Madhav Watve prepared him for his future career. His first few plays like ‘Eka Gharat Hoti’ and ‘Sundar Mi Honar’ did not get commercial success. However, he found ample recognition with both the critics and the audience. A small role in the popular ‘Sandhyachhaya’ was noticed and even won him many fans.
Wider recognition and popularity came with the milestone play ‘Barrister’. Written by Jayawant Dalvi and directed by Vijaya Mehta, this play became a runway hit and was applauded by critics and masses as well. Pradeep’s role of Bhaurao was widely acclaimed and many good roles followed. His biggest success came in the form of ‘Rang Umalatya Manache’ which crossed 500 shows, a roaring success in the 80’s.
With the growing popularity of Television, Pradeep became busy with a number of roles in the serial shows, which put limits on his theatre activity. In spite of this, in the first decade of twenty first century, Pradeep performed strong roles in plays like Sokshamoksha and Zala Gela Visrun Jau by Avishkar.
Television
In the first few years after its entry in 1972, Pradeep made his debut on TV in Namo Bhagawate Vasudevaya. His role in an early telefilm ‘Shahani Sakal’ is still remembered by the viewers. ‘Kuchh Khoyaa Kuchh Payaa’ was his first popular serial on the national TV. In the era of daily soaps, he played popular characters in more than 50 serials like ‘Asambhav’, ‘Nati Goti’, ‘Megha Datale’, ‘Hya Gojirvanya Gharat’. His character of Shyamrao Paranjape in the serial ‘Hya Gojirvanya Gharat’ was a big hit, in fact many people know him as Shyamrao Paranjape. His role in ongoing serial ‘Pudcha Paul’ has found immense acclaim and popularity.
Films
Pradeep’s earliest films were mostly Marathi, such as ‘Vajeer’, ‘Chakava’ and the Amol Palekar directed ‘Anahat’. He acted in the bilingual film Savali (in Marathi and Konkani). Only later he started acting in Bollywood films, beginning with Saamana, which was not released. He found recognition with non-Marathi audience with his roles in Risk, Page 3 and the recent super-hit Singham.
His upcoming films include the Marathi films Parakh Nyayachi and My Dear Yash, and a yet unnamed Bollywood film.