South India's leading director-producer Navodaya Appachan expired at a private hospital in Kochi on Monday night. He was 81 and was battling prostate cancer for a long time. 

Officially known as M C Punnoose, he was the one who made India's first 3D film, My Dear Kuttichathan, way back in the 1980s. He was often referred to as Navodaya Appachan. He is survived by his wife, two sons and two daughters.

In Kollywood, he produced movies like Friends and Azhagiya Thamil Magan.

Appachan was born in 1924, in Pulincunoo, a village in Alappuzha, Kerala. He was also the founder of Navodaya Studio and Kishkinta, the amusement park near Tambaram.

The Kerala government honoured him this year by conferring the J C Daniel award for his outstanding contribution to Malayalam cinema.

The first cinemascope film, Prem Nazir-starrer 'Thacholiambu', and first 70-mm film 'Padayottom', were also his contributions to the film world.