Noted film actor and director Pratap Pothen, who passed away in Chennai on Friday, was no stranger to controversies. Some of his posts on Facebook have stoked controversies.
When he was making a comeback, Pratap Pothen had fallen out with actor Jayaram and filmmaker Anjali Menon over movies.
Pratap Pothen wanted to cast Kalidas, son of actor Jayaram, in a movie directed by him. However, Jayaram informed him that Kalidas was not interested, prompting Pratap Pothen to put up a Facebook post. Though he did not name Jayaram, it was clear against whom the post was directed. But after the post became controversial, he took it down.
Jayaram did not make any response publicly over the issue. But lodged a complaint with the Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (AMMA). Jayaram had sought action at the organisational-level against Pratap Pothen for putting up the post. The association entrusted noted actor Nedumudi Venu to resolve the issue.
Another controversy cropped up when Pratap Pothen was gearing up to don the director's hat after a gap of two decades. Anjali Menon, director of the hit film ‘Bangalore Days’, was to pen the script of the movie.
The initial reports on the Pratap Pothen directorial had said that Dulquer Salman would star in the film. But Pratap Pothen later stated that he was dropping the film as the script did not turn out to be the way he wanted.
"We held discussions for 3-4 days about the film. At every stage, I clearly communicated to Anjali Menon about what I wanted in the script. But those were not included in the script. There is no point in making a film with such a script. I lost one year and four films. I do not wish to make money through filmmaking. I have nothing to prove. The idea was for a story with a touch of magical realism. But as it is not a story I wanted, I am dropping it. That's all. I wanted to do a film with Dulquer. But what we decide does not necessarily happen," Pratap Pothen had said then.
