# Pratap Pothen
**Pratap Pothen** (പ്രതാപ് പോത്തൻ; 1952 – 15 July 2022), also spelled Prathap Pothan, was an Indian actor, director, screenwriter, and producer who worked mainly in Malayalam and [Tamil cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/tamil-cinema), with additional credits in Telugu, Kannada, and Hindi films. He made his acting debut in Bharathan's *Aaravam* (1978), became a leading romantic hero of [Malayalam cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/malayalam-cinema)'s new-wave era of the early 1980s, and won the National Film Award for Best Debut Film of a Director for the Tamil film *Meendum Oru Kaathal Kathai*.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0693092/) • [2](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/malayalam/pratap-pothen-passes-away-8030491/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | 1952, Thiruvananthapuram, into a business family; found dead at his Kilpauk apartment in Chennai on 15 July 2022[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0693092/) |
| Acting debut | *Aaravam* (1978), directed by Bharathan, who had seen Pratap perform in Shaw's *Androcles and the Lion* with the Madras Players[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0693092/) |
| Breakthrough roles | The title role in *Thakara* (1979) and leads in *Chamaram* (1980) and *Lorry* (1980)[3](https://en.msidb.org/displayProfile.php?artist=Prathap+Pothen&category=actors) |
| Last directorial film | *Oru Yathramozhi* (1997), starring Mohanlal and Sivaji Ganesan[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/malayalam/pratap-pothen-passes-away-8030491/) |
| Late-career honor | Kerala State Film Award, Special Jury Award for acting, for *Once Upon A Time There Was A Kallan* (2014)[4](https://thefederal.com/obituary/pratap-pothen-the-original-hippy-of-malayalam-cinema) |
| Family | Son of the businessman Kulathunkal Joseph Pothen; brother of producer Hari Pothen; father of Keya Pothen[4](https://thefederal.com/obituary/pratap-pothen-the-original-hippy-of-malayalam-cinema) • [3](https://en.msidb.org/displayProfile.php?artist=Prathap+Pothen&category=actors) |
## Early life and advertising career
Pratap was born in 1952 into a well-to-do business family of [Thiruvananthapuram](https://www.edgepedia.org/thiruvananthapuram). His father, Kulathunkal Joseph Pothen, was a businessman active in Kerala politics, and his elder brother Hari (Harry) Pothen became a successful film producer delivering hits under the Supriya banner.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0693092/) • [4](https://thefederal.com/obituary/pratap-pothen-the-original-hippy-of-malayalam-cinema) His father died when Pratap was 15.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0693092/)
He was sent to boarding school at Lawrence School in Ooty at the age of five, where he took up painting, and later earned a BA in economics at Madras Christian College. Friends from college drew him from painting into acting in campus plays, and he performed with the Madras Players theater group in Madras (now Chennai).[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0693092/) • [5](https://www.manoramaonline.com/news/kerala/2022/07/16/actor-prathap-pothen-no-more.html)
After college he worked as a copywriter at an advertising agency in Mumbai, then joined Sistas and later Hindustan Thomson. This advertising background, including later ad-film making, was an asset when he turned to directing.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0693092/) • [6](https://www.asianetnews.com/entertainment-news/prathap-pothen-as-film-director-rf1rvd)
## Acting career
The director [Bharathan](https://www.edgepedia.org/bharathan) saw Pratap's performance in [George Bernard Shaw](https://www.edgepedia.org/george-bernard-shaw)'s *Androcles and the Lion* and invited him to act in the Malayalam film *Aaravam* (1978), where he played the character Kokkarakko.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0693092/) • [6](https://www.asianetnews.com/entertainment-news/prathap-pothen-as-film-director-rf1rvd) His next film with Bharathan, *Thakara* (1979), in which he played a mentally handicapped young man, made him a household name in Malayalam and Tamil cinema; he won the [Filmfare Award for Best Actor](https://www.edgepedia.org/filmfare-award-for-best-actor) (Malayalam) for it.[4](https://thefederal.com/obituary/pratap-pothen-the-original-hippy-of-malayalam-cinema) He followed with *Chamaram* (1980), opposite Zarina Wahab, playing a college student in love with his instructor, and *Lorry* (1980), also directed by Bharathan.[4](https://thefederal.com/obituary/pratap-pothen-the-original-hippy-of-malayalam-cinema) • [3](https://en.msidb.org/displayProfile.php?artist=Prathap+Pothen&category=actors)
By working with Bharathan, P. Padmarajan, and [Balu Mahendra](https://www.edgepedia.org/balu-mahendra), Pratap became part of the original new wave of Malayalam cinema in the early 1980s.[4](https://thefederal.com/obituary/pratap-pothen-the-original-hippy-of-malayalam-cinema) In Tamil he appeared in a string of acclaimed films with leading directors of the period: Balu Mahendra's *Azhiyatha Kolangal* and *Moodu Pani*, K. Balachander's *Varumayin Niram Sivappu*, Mahendran's *Nenjathai Killathe*, and Balachander's *Sindhu Bhairavi*, among others.[7](https://www.ottplay.com/news/rip-prathap-pothen-from-moodu-pani-to-ponmagal-vandhal-here-are-some-of-the-memorable-tamil-films-of-the-actor-director/3bcab47006939)
His screen count is reported differently by source: the MalayalaSangeetham database lists 61 films acted in across Malayalam, Tamil, Kannada, Telugu, and Hindi,[3](https://en.msidb.org/displayProfile.php?artist=Prathap+Pothen&category=actors) while obituaries describe a career of over 100 films.[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/malayalam/pratap-pothen-passes-away-8030491/)
## Directing career
Pratap turned to direction in the mid-1980s, mostly writing his own scripts.[4](https://thefederal.com/obituary/pratap-pothen-the-original-hippy-of-malayalam-cinema) His debut, the Tamil film *Meendum Oru Kaathal Kathai* (1985), a story of a mentally challenged couple that he co-wrote and in which he starred opposite Raadhika, won the National Film Award for Best Debut Film of a Director.[7](https://www.ottplay.com/news/rip-prathap-pothen-from-moodu-pani-to-ponmagal-vandhal-here-are-some-of-the-memorable-tamil-films-of-the-actor-director/3bcab47006939)In Malayalam he directed *Rithubhedam* (1987), from a screenplay by [M. T. Vasudevan Nair](https://www.edgepedia.org/m-t-vasudevan-nair), with [Balachandra Menon](https://www.edgepedia.org/balachandra-menon) and Thilakan in the lead roles; Thilakan won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for the film, and Pratap won the [Filmfare Award for Best Director](https://www.edgepedia.org/filmfare-award-for-best-director) (Malayalam).[6](https://www.asianetnews.com/entertainment-news/prathap-pothen-as-film-director-rf1rvd) The next year he directed his own script *Daisy*, a musical romance that became a widely remembered teenage film in Kerala.[6](https://www.asianetnews.com/entertainment-news/prathap-pothen-as-film-director-rf1rvd) He then directed Tamil films including *Jeeva*, *Vetri Vizha*, and *My Dear Marthandan*, and the Telugu film *Chaitanya* (1991), all from his own screenplays.[6](https://www.asianetnews.com/entertainment-news/prathap-pothen-as-film-director-rf1rvd)
His last directorial venture was *Oru Yathramozhi* (1997), notable for pairing Mohanlal with [Sivaji Ganesan](https://www.edgepedia.org/sivaji-ganesan), on a story by [Priyadarshan](https://www.edgepedia.org/priyadarshan) with a screenplay by John Paul.[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/malayalam/pratap-pothen-passes-away-8030491/) • [6](https://www.asianetnews.com/entertainment-news/prathap-pothen-as-film-director-rf1rvd) For roughly a decade afterward he stayed off-radar, occasionally making ad films, before a low-key acting comeback in 2005 and a fuller return to acting after 2012.[4](https://thefederal.com/obituary/pratap-pothen-the-original-hippy-of-malayalam-cinema)
## Later career and recognition
In his second Malayalam phase, Pratap worked comfortably with a younger generation of actors during another new wave in the industry. He played a negative role in *[22 Female Kottayam](https://www.edgepedia.org/22-female-kottayam)* (2012), winning the SIIMA Award for Best Actor in a Negative Role, and appeared in [Lal Jose](https://www.edgepedia.org/lal-jose)'s *Ayalum Njanum Thammil* (2012), for which he was nominated for the Filmfare Best Supporting Actor award and won the Vanitha Film Award in that category.[4](https://thefederal.com/obituary/pratap-pothen-the-original-hippy-of-malayalam-cinema)His hundredth film outing brought his last major award: in *Once Upon A Time There Was A Kallan* (2014) he played the 75-year-old Ousepachan, a bald, shuffling old man, and received the Kerala State Film Award's Special Jury Mention for acting that year.[4](https://thefederal.com/obituary/pratap-pothen-the-original-hippy-of-malayalam-cinema) His final released film was the [Mammootty](https://www.edgepedia.org/mammootty) thriller *CBI 5: The Brain* (2022), and at his death he was filming for Mohanlal's directorial *Barroz: Nidhi Kaakkum Bhootham*.[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/malayalam/pratap-pothen-passes-away-8030491/)
## Personal life and death
Pratap married the actress Raadhika Sarathkumar in 1985; the couple separated in 1986. In 1990 he married Amala Sathyanath, a corporate professional, and they had a daughter, Keya; that marriage also ended in separation in 2012.[2](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/malayalam/pratap-pothen-passes-away-8030491/) • [8](https://indianbroadcastnetwork.com/tribute-to-the-actor-director-pratap-pothen/) After his brother Hari Pothen's death he became entangled in property disputes and faced death threats.[1](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0693092/)
He was found dead at his apartment in Kilpauk, Chennai, on the morning of 15 July 2022, at the age of 70; initial reports attributed the death to a cardiac arrest during sleep, and he was survived by his daughter.[9](https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/regional-cinema/story/actor-director-pratap-pothen-passes-away-at-70-in-chennai-1975889-2022-07-15) • [5](https://www.manoramaonline.com/news/kerala/2022/07/16/actor-prathap-pothen-no-more.html) He had posted on Facebook with his characteristic dark humor the day before.[8](https://indianbroadcastnetwork.com/tribute-to-the-actor-director-pratap-pothen/)
Contemporaries described him as an anglicized, unconventional figure who did not fit the standard hero mold, a voracious reader with strong tastes in music and art, and a self-avowed Marxist despite his father's shifting political loyalties.[4](https://thefederal.com/obituary/pratap-pothen-the-original-hippy-of-malayalam-cinema) Obituaries noted that although his promise as a director went partly unrealized, he was remembered for having lived life on his own terms.[4](https://thefederal.com/obituary/pratap-pothen-the-original-hippy-of-malayalam-cinema)
## References
1. [Prathap Pothen, IMDb biography](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0693092/)
2. [Actor-filmmaker Pratap Pothen passes away at 70, The Indian Express](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/malayalam/pratap-pothen-passes-away-8030491/)
3. [Prathap Pothen profile, MalayalaSangeetham.Info](https://en.msidb.org/displayProfile.php?artist=Prathap+Pothen&category=actors)
4. [Pratap Pothen: The original hippy of Malayalam cinema, The Federal](https://thefederal.com/obituary/pratap-pothen-the-original-hippy-of-malayalam-cinema)
5. [പ്രതാപ് പോത്തന് യാത്രാമൊഴി, Manorama News](https://www.manoramaonline.com/news/kerala/2022/07/16/actor-prathap-pothen-no-more.html)
6. [Prathap Pothen as film director, Asianet News](https://www.asianetnews.com/entertainment-news/prathap-pothen-as-film-director-rf1rvd)
7. [RIP Prathap Pothen: memorable Tamil films, OTTplay](https://www.ottplay.com/news/rip-prathap-pothen-from-moodu-pani-to-ponmagal-vandhal-here-are-some-of-the-memorable-tamil-films-of-the-actor-director/3bcab47006939)
8. [Tribute to the Actor-Director Pratap Pothen, Indian Broadcast Network](https://indianbroadcastnetwork.com/tribute-to-the-actor-director-pratap-pothen/)
9. [Actor-director Pratap Pothen passes away at 70 in Chennai, India Today](https://www.indiatoday.in/movies/regional-cinema/story/actor-director-pratap-pothen-passes-away-at-70-in-chennai-1975889-2022-07-15)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Film people and crafts › Film actors and performers › Indian and South Asian film actors by industry and language › Malayalam film actors › Surnames L to R*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license