Nagpur News: 19-year-old Pratap Prem Harode while speaking exclusively to Nagpur Today said that right after his XIIth standard, when he was studying for Pre-Medical examinations, a strong desire to direct a movie hit him like a pile of bricks and lo and behold, he went on to join some directors and worked with them as their assistant.
He has worked on three documentaries. Presently he is working on a very big documentary under a big banner which is making a documentary on North East India.
Apart from that he has made 4 short films.
- Mother’s Child (on Mother’s Day)
- A shade of queer (A film of Lesbians, Gay, Bisexuals & Transgender)
- A lost Child
- Innocence (A short film)
Pratap Harode who hails from Mouda, a town and a tehsil in Ramtek subdivision of Nagpur district studied in 
Maharshi Vidhya Mahavidhyalaya. He had enrolled in Akash Institute for studying Pre-Medicals. While his father is a reputed doctor and wanted him to follow his foot-steps and become a doctor, he somehow did not feel convinced in his heart to become a doctor. Right from childhood, he had a creative self which was bubbling to come out into the open. The creative side won in this internal war and he decided to quit his career in Medical field even after clearing the pre-medical exams with flying colours. He dived head-on into exploring his creative talents. He had a basic camera or Handycam, with which he started making small clips of events and plays/dramas etc. He started penning down stories, making scripts for movies, writing poems etc. This gained him a lot of experience. He learnt many nuances of life in front of the camera and behind the camera. He realized that many people are camera shy, while the youngsters are camera savvy.
He wanted to gain a thorough knowledge of Directing, so he has since enrolled in the Whistling Woods International. He is doing his B.Sc in Film Making.
Harode told Nagpur Today that there are no institutes in Nagpur where one can learn about subjects like Cinematography, Studio, Editing, Professional Acting, etc. He also claimed that one gets acknowledged only when he or she does a course from some reputed institutes like Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute, Kolkata, Whistling Woods International, Mumbai, Center for Research in Art of Film and Television, Delhi and Asian Academy of Film and Television, Noida does he or she gets recognized and can get opportunity to work.
Harode claimed that he has worked as an Assistant Director in an International Project. He is looking for a progressive director under whom he can learn finer points of direction.
When asked if he felt uncomfortable in directing films or movies on sensitive subjects like Gay sex, Lesbians etc, Harode said that he will not uncomfortable rather he would be really enthusiastic to work on the subject so that people may change their attitude towards people with different sexual orientation.
While explaining his point of view, he said that he is working in an upcoming film called “My Son is Gay”, which is a Crowd Funded Movie. The movie stares Anupama Kumar who is a Gay Rights Activist and Nakshatra Bagwe. He is working in the Directorate team under reputed Director Lokesh Kumar.
He claimed that initially he had to face a lot of difficulties and had to take-up odd jobs to make a living. However now he has settled in. He added that Nagpur lacks in professional out-look in any field.
He added that a Software company has come forward and has developed a web-site which features all campaigns, documentaries etc. However, he does solicit the support of people at large.
—Samuel Gunasekharan
