Pratap Pothen (13 August 1952 – 15 July 2022) was an Indian actor and filmmaker who acted in about 100 films and directed 12 films. He appeared in

Tamil Tamil may refer to: People, culture and language * Tamils, an ethno-linguistic group native to India, Sri Lanka, and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka ** Myanmar or Burmese Tamils, Tamil people of Ind ...

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

, and Telugu as well as

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

films. He also worked as a scriptwriter and producer for films.

Early life and career

Pratap was born in

Trivandrum Thiruvananthapuram ( ), also known as Trivandrum, is the capital city of the Indian state of Kerala. As of 2011, the Thiruvananthapuram Municipal Corporation had a population of 957,730 over an area of 214.86 sq. km, making it the largest and ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

on 13 August 1952. His father was Pothan of the Kolathinkal house, a businessman who died in 1967, when Pratap was 15 years old. Pratap had five siblings, including an elder brother, Hari Pothan, who also worked as a film producer. Pratap was educated at the Lawrence School, Lovedale in

Ooty Ooty (; officially Udagamandalam (), Anglicisation, anglicized: Ootacamund , abbreviated as Udagai, ) is a town and municipality in the Nilgiris district of the Indian States and territories of India, state of Tamil Nadu. It is located north ...

. Initially, he was interested in painting; however, once he joined college, he started acting in plays with the help of his friends, and gradually got more interested in acting than painting. After his graduation from the

Madras Christian College Madras Christian College (MCC) is a liberal arts and sciences college in Chennai, India. Founded in 1837, MCC is one of Asia's oldest extant colleges. The college is affiliated to the University of Madras but functions as an autonomous institut ...

, Pratap worked as a copywriter in an ad agency in

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

. Later he also worked at Sistas ad agency and Hindustan Thomson.

Personal life

Pratap married actress Radhika in 1985, but their marriage did not last long and they separated in 1986. In 1990, he married Amala Sathyanath, with whom he had a daughter, Keya.

Film career

Pratap worked with The Madras Players. After seeing Pratap's performance in Shaw's play '' Androcles and the Lion,''

Bharathan Bharathan Parameshwara Menon Palissery (14 November 1946 – 30 July 1998) Known mononymously Bharathan was an Indian people, Indian film maker, artist, and art director. Bharathan is noted for being the founder of a new school of film ma ...

invited Pratap to appear in his Malayalam film '' Aaravam''. Pratap later starred in three more films: '' Thakara'', ''

Lorry A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport freight, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructio ...

'' and '' Chamaram''. He also acted in Tamil films such as '' Moodupani'', '' Varumayin Niram Sivappu'', '' Nenjathai Killathe'', '' Panneer Pushpangal''. His debut as a director was in '' Meendum Oru Kaathal Kathai'', which he received a national award for. Prathap worked with

Kamal Haasan Parthasarathy Srinivasan (born 7 November 1954), known professionally as Kamal Haasan, is an Indian actor, filmmaker and politician who predominantly works in Tamil cinema. Considered as one of the most accomplished actors of Indian Cinema, Haas ...

in '' Vettri Vizhaa'' (1989). The film is noteworthy for being the first Tamil movie to use a

steadicam Steadicam is a brand of camera stabilizer mounts for motion picture cameras invented by Garrett Brown and introduced in 1975 by Cinema Products Corporation. The Steadicam brand was acquired by Tiffen in 2000. It was designed to isolate the ...

. Pratap created three more films in Malayalam '' Rithubhedam'', '' Daisy'', '' Oru Yathramozhi''. His only Telugu film is ''

Chaitanya Chaitanya or Chaithanya may refer to Philosophy *Chaitanya (consciousness), Hindu philosophical concept People *Chaitanya (name) *Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1533), founder of Gaudiya Vaishnavism Media *Chaitanya (film), ''Chaitanya'' (film), ...

'' and his only role in

Bollywood Hindi cinema, popularly known as Bollywood and formerly as Bombay cinema, is primarily produced in Mumbai. The popular term Bollywood is a portmanteau of "Bombay" (former name of Mumbai) and "Cinema of the United States, Hollywood". The in ...

is in ''

Guru Guru ( ; International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ''guru'') is a Sanskrit term for a "mentor, guide, expert, or master" of certain knowledge or field. In pan-Indian religions, Indian traditions, a guru is more than a teacher: tr ...

''. His notable roles in Malayalam cinema include ''Once Upon A Time There Was A Kallan'', '' Ayalum Njanum Thammil'', '' 22 Female Kottayam'', '' Idukki Gold'', ''

Ezra Ezra ( fl. fifth or fourth century BCE) is the main character of the Book of Ezra. According to the Hebrew Bible, he was an important Jewish scribe (''sofer'') and priest (''kohen'') in the early Second Temple period. In the Greek Septuagint, t ...

'', '' Uyare'', and '' Bangalore Days''. He directed Tamil films including '' Jeeva'', '' Vettri Vizhaa'', '' Seevalaperi Pandi'' and '' Lucky Man''. In 2006, Pratap Pothan announced that he would direct Madhavan in a script written by

K. Rajeswar K. Rajeshwar is an Indian film director, who has worked in Tamil films. He was active primarily as a film maker and a writer in the 1990s collaborating in ventures which often included Pratap Pothan. Career Rajeshwar grew up in Mumbai and beca ...

. Pre-production works proved to be difficult and the film went through several changes of title and lead actress, before it was announced that the film would be called ''Oru Naal Podhuma'' and would feature Rukmini Vijayakumar in the leading female role. The team had made plans to complete shooting for the film in Canada, though creative differences meant that the film was subsequently shelved. In the last few years, he was busy with his ad agency named "Green Apple" and focused on commercials for MRF Tyres and Nippo. He used to host ''Naalaya Iyakkunar'' on Kalaignar TV. The turn of the century saw him playing many gratifying roles in films like '' Priyasakhi'', '' Aayirathil Oruvan'' and ''

Ponmagal Vandhal ''Ponmagal Vandhal'' () is a 2020 Indian Tamil-language legal drama film written and directed by J. J. Fredrick in his directorial debut, and produced by Suriya under his banner 2D Entertainment. The film stars Jyothika leading an ensemble ...

''. As a filmmaker, in Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam, he directed veterans like

Sivaji Ganesan Villupuram. Chinnaiya Manrayar Ganesamoorthy (1 October 1928 – 21 July 2001), better known by his stage name Sivaji Ganesan, was an Indian actor and film producer. He was mainly active in Tamil cinema during the latter half of the 20th centur ...

Mohanlal Mohanlal Viswanathan (; born 21 May 1960), known mononymously as Mohanlal, is an Indian actor and filmmaker who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam cinema besides also having sporadically appeared in Tamil cinema, Tamil, Hin ...

Thilakan Palappurathu Keshavan Surendranatha Thilakan (15 July 1935 – 24 September 2012) was an Indian film and stage actor who appeared in over 200 Malayalam films. Thilakan was known for his elaborate method acting, realistic and spontaneous appeara ...

and

Nagarjuna Nāgārjuna (Sanskrit: नागार्जुन, ''Nāgārjuna''; ) was an Indian monk and Mahayana, Mahāyāna Buddhist Philosophy, philosopher of the Madhyamaka (Centrism, Middle Way) school. He is widely considered one of the most importa ...

Death

Pratap was found dead in his apartment in Kilpauk,

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

on 15 July 2022. He is believed to have died of natural causes.

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Order based on number of films that he acted in.

As an actor

Tamil films

Malayalam films

Telugu films

Other language films

As director

As writer

*'' Solla Thudikuthu Manasu'' (1988) (Tamil)

Television

* ''Naalaya Iyakkunar'' (2019) (Kalaignar TV) (Tamil)

References

External links

*
Prathap Pothen at MSI
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pothen, Pratap K. 1952 births 2022 deaths 20th-century Indian male actors Filmfare Awards South winners Male actors from Thiruvananthapuram Male actors in Malayalam cinema Male actors in Tamil cinema Indian male actors Madras Christian College alumni Tamil film directors Male actors in Telugu cinema 21st-century Indian male actors Malayalam film directors Tamil film producers Film directors from Thiruvananthapuram Tamil screenwriters Malayalam screenwriters Screenwriters from Thiruvananthapuram Director whose film won the Best Debut Feature Film National Film Award South Indian International Movie Awards winners