Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and leading Malayalam actors have condoled actor Kottayam Pradeep's death. Pradeep passed away on Thursday morning following a heart attack. The CM mentioned how Pradeep portrayed even the shortest of roles in his own unique style, which will always stay with the viewers. Pradeep KR, known more popularly as Kottayam Pradeep, passed away on Thursday after suffering a heart attack. The actor was 61. Mammootty, Mohanlal, Prithviraj Sukumran, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Dulquer Salmaan, Nivin Pauly, Manju Warrier were among prominent Malayalam actors who paid tribute to the late actor. Mohanlal in his tribute said Pradeep had "found a place in the hearts of Malayalis by playing remarkable characters." Vineeth expressed shock and grief at the sudden demise of Pradeep. "I am not able to believe it. I have so many good memories with him from the handful of movies we had worked together," he wrote in his Facebook page. Pradeep started his acting career with IV Sasi movie 'Ee naadu innale vare' (1999) as a junior artist. He got his first breakthrough in the 2010 Tamil movie 'Vinnaithandi Varuvaya', which was directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The role established Pradeep even though he had a short roles as a relative of Trisha's character in the movie. His dialogue 'Karimeenond.Chickenond.Muttonond..,' which he delivered in his typical Kottayam slang became an instant hit and an iconic moment in Pradeep's career. Based on this dialogue, Vineeth Sreenivasan offered Pradeep 'Thattathin Marayath' that went on to become one of the biggest hits in Malayalam cinema. Pradeep went on to act in films such as Kunji Ramayanam, Amar Akbar Antony, Kattapanayile Hrithik Roshan, Adi Kapyare Kootamani and many more. However, most filmmakers failed to explore this actor's calibre and confined Pradeep to roles similar to Vinnaithandi Varuvaya. In a way, the dialogue in Vinnaithandi Varuvaya was a blessing and curse in Pradeep's acting career. Before coming to cinema, Pradeep was an active theatre artist. He started as a child artist in N N Pillai's play named 'Eashwaran Arrestil' at the age of 10.
