Pradeep Khadka (or Pradip Khadka, प्रदिप खड्का in Nepali) born on 10 March 1992 in Lalitpur, is an award-winning Nepali actor, filmmaker and a model based in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Khadka started his film career in 2011 as a filmmaker and an actor, establishing his own film production company. However, he remained largely unnoticed until 2015 before Prem Geet was released.
Khadka was chosen for his role in Prem Geet through an open audition. Before joining the movie industry, Khadka was a student of marketing and ran a non-government organization.
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Early Life & Education
Pradeep Khadka was born on 10 March 1992 in Kusunti, Lalitpur as the son of Tek Bahadur Khadka and Sharada Khadka. He spent his childhood in the Kathmandu valley and attended a private boarding school in Lalitpur. After completing the School Leaving Certificate (SLC), he joined Prasadi Academy, a private college in Kathmandu, and completed higher secondary education in management.
Khadka continued his education in the field of management and received an MBA specialising in marketing from the Lord Buddha Education Foundation, Kathmandu, an affiliate campus of the Sikkim Manipal University, India.
Before being active in movies, Khadka was involved in non-profit work and ran an organization called Mission to Relief National Nepal (MIRENN). Khadka was the organisation’s vice-chairperson.
Movie Career
Very passionate about movies and moviemaking since an early age, Pradeep Khadka started a movie production company called Pradeep Media Pvt. Ltd in 2011. The company produced a movie called Escape and Khadka debuted as a lead actor. The film was commercially a failure.
In 2013, Pradeep Media produced another movie named Thulo Manche (i.e. Big Man) and Khadka didn’t have any screen role. Nonetheless, Thulo Manche was another failure at the box office.
Frustrated to see his dreams crushed, Khadka started to plan to leave Nepal in search of better opportunities abroad. When he was planning to move to Australia, the April 2015 earthquake in Nepal forced him to postpone his plans. In interviews, Khadka ironically says that he is one of very few Nepalis who benefited from the devastating earthquakes.
It was during that time the production team of Prem Geet was looking for a fresh face and Khadka auditioned for the role.
Once released, Prem Geet became a huge commercial and critical success and Khadka was appraised for his role as the lead actor in the movie. After the success of Prem Geet, Khadka abandoned his plans to move to Australia and decided to continue his acting career in Nepal. Khadka also appeared in the film’s sequels.
In 2016, Khadka with actress Puja Sharma received the Best Screen Couple of the Year award during the LG Filmy Award.
A failed relationship with Pooja Sharma
Many Nepali tabloids have reported in the past that Pradeep Khadka’s girlfriend was Puja Sharma. However, as of 2016, the couple have reportedly broken off and doesn’t even speak to each other publicly.
Pradeep Khadka and Pooja Sharma in Prem Geet poster.In the autumn of 2016, when it was announced that Prem Geet 2 was in the making, Khadka was chosen as a male lead, whereas Pooja Sharma was not signed up for the sequel. Instead, a new face, Aaslesha Thakuri, played opposite Pradeep Khadka.
