Last Updated: July 19, 2022, 19:41 IST
He soon became an unconventional romantic hero, who charmed his way into people’s hearts.
Pratap Pothen’s wife Amala Pothen said the actor died because of cardiac arrest while he was sleeping.
Malayalam actor Pratap Pothen, who passed away on July 15, left behind a remarkable legacy that will remain unmatched. During his time in Madras, meeting director Bharathan and who offered him a role in Aaravam became a crucial juncture in Pratap Pothan’s life.
Pratap Pothan was convinced that he did not have the traditional looks required for a leading man in the films of the time. But Bharat wanted to bring out the actor in Pratap to light and hence decided to recast him in Thakara despite Aaravam’s failure.
He soon became an unconventional romantic hero, who charmed his way into people’s hearts. Like the simple and grounded characters that the late actor portrayed on screen, his wishes were simple and grounded. His relative Anil Thomas said that Pratap Pothen had earlier asked to cremate his body without any religious rituals and hence his mortal remains were cremated at crematorium on New Avadi Road without any fanfare, skipping all religious ceremonies. Pratap Pothan, who had always kept his distance from crowd noise, repeated it even in his last moments.
His other wish was to have his ashes buried underneath a mango sapling planted by his daughter Keya as his last wish and it was done too. His wish was for his remains to serve as manure for a tree and hence his daughter planted a mavin sapling and buried his ashes underneath it.
Pratap Pothen’s wife Amala Pothen said the actor died because of cardiac arrest while he was sleeping. The late actor has also won the Indira Gandhi Award for his debut directorial film Meendum Oru Kathal Kathai.
