Prev Reddy ready for the Saftas
Actor, stand-up comic and content creator Prev Reddy is set to join the country’s top talent in film and television at the highly anticipated 18th South African Film and Television Awards (Saftas).
This prestigious occasion, which celebrates the best in South Africa’s entertainment industry, will take place on Saturday, October 26, and will be broadcast live at 7.30pm on Mzansi Magic (Channel 161) and SABC 2.
The theme for this year’s awards is “Back to Basics: Celebrating South Africa’s Golden Narratives” and will reflect the Safta’s commitment to the fundamental principles of storytelling and filmmaking while embracing innovation and creativity in the digital age.
Reddy has been nominated in the best actor in a TV comedy category for his role in the Netflix series Miseducation. He is up against Sne Dladla and Siyabonga Raymond Sepotokele.
Reddy plays Jay Gounden in Miseducation, a young adult series on Netflix that follows Mbali Hadebe (played by Buntu Petse) who, after a public humiliation, enrols in a small-town university, where she aspires to regain her social status and meets a new, eclectic clique of friends trying to overcome various young adult struggles.
“This was my first TV show that I was one of the lead characters on, my first Netflix show and my first Safta nomination. I am extremely excited and looking forward to the awards. Just being nominated is such an honour. It’s the highest acknowledgement and nod one can receive from the industry and your peers as an actor or a creative in the country.
“This is testament to the character ‒ we’ve never seen an openly young Indian queer character on TV before, from SA on a global platform. It was refreshing to see. When my agent called me to audition for the role and I saw the character’s age was around 19 I said there’s no way, but sent in a tape and got the role,” said Reddy.
He said he loved Miseducation, adding that it was refreshing, multicultural and diverse.
Reddy started acting at the age of 15 in the young performer project at the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre.
Reddy has also starred in the feature film Honeymoon. In 2020 he won the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award for African Social Star of the Year. This year he debuted his new comedy show, Prev Reddy Is A Triple Threat, which received rave reviews from international audiences.
He made a name for himself through comedy on the world’s fastest-growing short-form video app TikTok by performing his alter ego Aunty Shamilla.
For the 18th Saftas, the National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) added five new categories: best achievement in visual effects, best achievement in special effects in hair and make-up, and best original songs for a telenovela, TV drama or feature film.
Among the production houses, Tshedza Pictures leads the nominations with 29 for productions like Outlaws and The River, while Burnt Onion Productions follows closely with 22 nominations, including Miseducation.
Public votes for the Best TV Presenter and Most Popular Telenovela or Soap will close on Monday.