Pradeep Kottayam was an actor who predominantly worked in Malayalam films. He started his career as a junior artist and went on to act in several movies in the last two decades. He got his first big break with the movie Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya directed by Gautam Vasudev Menon in the year 2010. Pradeep played the role of Trisha’s uncle in the movie.
Pradeep Kottayam was also known as Pradeep KR by his friends in the film industry. He started his career in film industry with the movie Ee Naadu Innale Vare in the year 2001. The actor was appreciated widely for his good dialogue delivery. He was mostly seen in supporting roles and he became famous for his comic timing.
Pradeep got fame with some popular movies like Amar Akbar Anthony, Aadu Oru Bheegara Jeevi Aanu, Life of Josutty, Oru Vadakkan Selfie and others. The actor was last seen in Mohanlal starrer Aaraattu recently. Pradeep recently died due to heart attack on February 17th of 2022. He was 61 at that time and he is survived by his wife Maya and two children.
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Wiki | Biography
Pradeep Kottayam was born in 1961 in Kottayam district of Kerala. Even though he had lot of interest in film industry, he could not fulfill it in his young days and he started working as a LIC officer for several years. However, in the year 2001, he started his career in films and went on to act in several movies. In the early days of his career, he was seen in many movies as a junior artist.
Pradeep Kottayam did not receive many dialogues in most of his earlier films and he was seen somewhere in the crowd in many movies. However, the actor did not give up his interest in the film industry and waited for his big chance. Finally after many years of struggle, he got a big break with Gautam Vasudev Menon’s movie Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya which became a blockbuster hit.
The actor played the role of Trisha’s uncle in the movie and got good recognition for his comedy. He went on to become a popular character artist after that in many malayalam movies. Interestingly, he also acted in a couple of tamil movies as his first big break was in a tamil movie. He later starred in one Hindi movie Ekk Deewana Tha.
| Full Name | Pradeep Kottayam |
| Nickname | Pradeep |
| Date of Birth | 1988 |
| Age | 61 Years |
| Birthplace | Kottayam, Kerala, India. |
| Nationality | India |
| Profession | Actor |
| Zodiac sign / Sun sign | Aries |
| Famous For | Movies |
| School | Govt Higher Secondary School, Karapuzha |
| College | Baselius College, Kottayam |
| Educational Qualifications | NA |
| Debut | Ee Naadu Innale Vare |
| Years Active | 2001 |
Family, Relationships
Pradeep Kottayam married Maya and the couple have two children. The actor belongs to a middle class family in Kerala. Pradeep’s parents Raghavan and Padma belonged to Kerala. He was ably supported by his wife Maya and children when the actor was struggling to get good roles in the early stages of his career.
Pradeep Kottayam has a son and daughter. His son same is Vishnu Siva Pradeep and daughter name is Vrinda Pradeep. The actor recently passed away in 2022 leaving behind his wife and two children.
| Father Name | Raghavan Kottayam |
| Mother Name | Padma Kottayam |
| Marital Status | Married |
| Wife Name | Maya |
| Children Name | Son – Vishnu Siva Pradeep Daughter – Vrinda Pradeep |
Physical Appearance
The actor was of medium height and dusky looks. His bald head and heartening smile suited comedy roles perfectly and he was seen in many movies as a supporting artist.
| Physical Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Weight (approx.) | Kilograms- NA |
| Height (approx.) | Centimeters – NA |
| Shoe Size | Not Known |
| Hair Color | NA |
| Eye Color | NA |
Career
Pradeep Kottayam worked as a LIC officer for several years before entering the film industry at the age of 40. He started his career under the direction of IV Sasi with the movie Ee Naadu Innale Vare in the year 2001. After that, he worked in several movies in small roles and he did not get good opportunities to showcase his talent.
His big break came in 2010 with the superhit tamil movie Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya and his comedy dialogues became popular with the audience. He went on to star in the hindi remake of the film Ekk Deewana Tha where he played the same role as the original movie. Pradeep Kottayam played the role of George in the movie alongside popular actress Trisha Krishnan.
The actor also played interesting roles in many other movies that became good hits. Apart from that, he was also part of a TV serial in 2012. The Malayalam TV serial Chumma was broadcasted on Amrita TV and the actor played the role of hero’s father in the serial.
Pradeep also got good recognition for his acting in the movie Oru Vadakkan Selfie where he played the role of hero’s father. The movie which was released in 2015 became a good hit. In the same year, he got another good role in Tamil movie Nanbenda. Overall 2015 was a big year for Pradeep as he was seen in more than 20 movies.
The actor played interesting roles in Amar Akbar Antony and Kohinoor that had star actors from the Malayalam film industry. He also played an important role in the blockbuster Tamil movie Theri in the year 2016. In the movie, Pradeep was seen in the role of a police constable who assists hero Vijay who played the role of Inspector.
Recent movies of the actor include Aaraattu that had Mohanlal in the lead role. Apart from that, two of his movies Pappantem Simontem Piller and Mathamgi are yet to be released.
Net Worth
Even though Pradeep Kottayam was born in a middle class family, he was well educated and earned an officer’s rank in LIC. He later entered the film industry at the age of 40 and acted in nearly 70 movies. The net worth of the actor is more than 5 crores and he has properties in Kerala.
| Net Worth | 5 crores |
Facts and Information
Pradeep Kottayam’s dialogue in the movie Vinnaithandi Varuvaaya is remembered even today by his fans and it became a huge hit when the movie was released in 2010.
He made his acting debut at the age of 40 after working in LIC for several years.
He starred in several movies as a side artist and did not get dialogues in most of them during the early days of his career.
Pradeep Kottayam became a famous actor after 10 years of struggle in the film industry. The actor was part of more than 70 movies in his career that lasted for more than 20 years. He starred in 23 movies in the year 2015. Pradeep Kottayam won the Best Supporting Actor award by Asianet Awards in 2016.
Pradeep Kottayam died at the age of 61 due to heart attack. Several celebrities mourned the death of Pradeep Kottayam and remembered his wonderful performances in their movies. Many top directors appreciated Pradeep for his natural performance and the actor’s comedy timing was very good.