At first, Praljak worked as a professor and manager of the electronics laboratory at the Nikola Tesla Vocational High School in Zagreb, then lectured on philosophy and sociology, and after 1973 was a freelance artist. Praljak was also a theatre director in theatres in Zagreb, Osijek and Mostar. He directed the television series "Blesan i Tulipan" and Tulipan, television dramas "Novela od Stanca" and "Sargaško more" Sea, documentaries "Smrt psa" (1980) of a Dog, "Sandžak" and "Duhan" (both in 1990), and film "Povratak Katarine Kožul" (1989) [Return of Katarina Kožul.