This young lady, Prateeksha Kashi, hails from the family of the legendary Dr. Gubbi Veeranna, who is regarded as the jewel in the Karnataka theatre world. With a heart of gold, she topped in her graduate college with a gold medal and then briefly explored the corporate world, only to go back to her one true love, Dance!
Prateeksha was initiated to dance at a tender age of five. She was born on 29 May 1990 to Vijaya Kashi, eminent actor and Vyjayanthi Kashi, dancer par excellence. Ever since, she has been undergoing training in Kuchipudi- a classical dance form of Andhra Pradesh, under the guidance of her mother and guru Smt. Vyjayanthi Kashi, a celebrated performer and choreographer, and the first star to have appeared on KnowYourStar.com!
Having attained distinction in the dance examinations conducted by the State and Central Governments, Prateeksha is one of the very few dancers from Karnataka who got selected to advance her studies in Kuchipudi by the Central Government of India. Prateeksha is an empanelled artist of ICCR, Govt. of India, and an A graded artist of the broadcasting media- Doordarshan Kendra. Prateeksha was honoured with the Aryabhata International Award, Kalabharathi Yuva Pratibha Award, Natyavedha Award, and Young Dancer Award for excellence in Kuchipudi. She has the titles of Nalanda Nritya Nipuna, instituted by the renowned Nalanda Dance Research Centre, and Nritya Jyoti, awarded at the Naveen Kalakar to her credits.
She has performed in several prestigious Indian dance festivals. She has also toured Australia, UK, China and Italy, not just to perform but also to conduct Kuchipudi workshops at certain venues. She was polled by the audience to be the winner of the dance competition held at New York, and her performance at Los Angeles for the first International Kannada Convention was highly appreciated.
Prateeksha has been featured in tele films and the art movie- Prakruti, which won a National Award. She has also acted in the short movie, Dwar- Door To Transformation, with an interest to spread awareness about the safety of women. She is currently playing the lead role in a Kannada daily soap.