“People may question your choices or doubt your talent, but it’s what ‘you’ believe about ‘yourself’ that really matters.

From a young age, I was drawn to anything creative — music, painting, photography, acting. When I was 12, my father gifted me a Yashica TLR camera. I still remember the excitement of loading Kodak film rolls, experimenting with ISO grades, and framing the world through that lens.

My early childhood was in Thane, Maharashtra, but in 1982, after my father got a job in Abu Dhabi, we moved permanently to Hyderabad. This city has been home ever since.

It was in school that my interest in acting and dramas started taking shape. I didn’t just act. I used to write, direct, and stage plays during annual days. Even though we had a drama teacher, the school often entrusted me with full responsibility. That trust gave me a sense of direction early on.

After graduating in 1995, I began working in IT and Computer Hardware. While my IT career progressed well, the pull towards creativity never left me.

In 2005, I got back to photography with more seriousness. I took up all kinds of assignments — portrait shoots, events, corporate films. A few years later, I joined Nishumbita School of Drama and began training professionally. That decision changed everything.

Since then, I’ve acted in over 100 plays — comedies, dramas, solo acts. One of the highlights was performing 27 different plays non-stop in 24 hours on World Theatre Day 2022. Something none of us will forget. It was tiring, yes, but it also reminded me of why I fell in love with the stage. Cinema followed naturally.

I’ve acted in more than 50 films in different roles. I also worked as an Assistant Director for the film Million Views and now I mentor young actors on his sets.

I’m 52 now. I still juggle theatre, photography, and cinema. Each medium gives me something different. I don’t think passion ever retires. It just evolves. You may not always get applause or recognition right away, but that’s not the point. The point is to keep creating, keep learning, and keep believing — even when no one is watching.”

• Praveen Kumar Teegala