Veteran actor and director Pratap Pothan died at his flat in Chennai at the age of 69 due to cardiac arrest. The actor, who was an active presence in Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films from the 1980s, also made his mark in the industry as a scriptwriter, director and producer.

Pothen started his career in 1978 with the Malayalam movie Aavaram. In 1979, he won the Filmfare Award in the Best Actor category for his performance in the film Thakara. In 1980, he again won the Filmfare Award in the Best Actor category (Malayalam) with the movie Chamaram.

He became active in Tamil simultaneously with movies like Moodupani, Varumayin Niram Sivappu and Panneer Pushpangal. He was last seen in the courtroom thriller Ponmagal Vanthal starring Jyothika and produced by 2D Entertainment and in a cameo appearance in last year’s political comedy Tughlaq Darbar, led by Parthiban and Vijay Sethupathi. In the last few years, he was busy with his ad agency named "Green Apple" and focused on commercials for MRF Tyres and Nippo.