Pratap was born in
Thiruvananthapuram,
Kerala on 13 August 1952. Pratap was educated at the
Lawrence School, Lovedale in
Ooty. Initially, he was interested in painting; however, once he joined college, he started acting in plays with the help of his friends, and gradually got more interested in acting than painting. After his graduation from the
Madras Christian College, Pratap worked as a copywriter in an ad agency in
Mumbai. Later he also worked at Sistas ad agency and Hindustan Thomson. == Personal life==