Kalabhavan Haneef

Kalabhavan Haneef Biography

Kalabhavan Haneef is an actor associated with Malayalam cinema, best known as a character artist. He excels in comic roles and is also known as a standup comedian for live stage shows since 1990s. He is a mimicry artist, stage actor and also appears in TV shows, and is a quite familiar face to Malayalis since 1990s. Cheppukilukkana changathi was his debut film. Sandesham and Godfather both in 1991 are some of the early works of Haneef, and he became a part of several small budget comic films with ensemble cast, which was a hit formula of Malayalam movies of 1990s.

Kalabhavan Haneef was interested in mimicry and acting right from school days. He used to perform mimicry on stage and also participated in school competitions since then. He started his career as a sales person and mimicry artist, and also appeared in movies and television shows in brief roles since 1990s. He was associated with the troupe Cochin Kalabhavan through which he emerged as a performer on stage and mimicry artist. In fact it’s the same theatre group which gave many mimicry artists to Malayali viewers, who later went on to become huge stars and comedians on Malayalam screen since 1990s. Later he added the tag ‘Kalabhavan’ to his name.

As a mimicry artist he is best known for imitating Malayalam actors like Nedumudi Venu and Raghavan. His roles in TV serials - Minnu Kettu, Nadhaswaram etc were also well received. Yet it was through his comic roles in sitcoms and other shows which made him popular. Abi's Corner, Comediyum Mimicsum Pinne Njanum, Manassiloru Mazhavillu, Tilana Tilana etc are a few such roles. Some of his noted film roles in the recent times are Kodathi Samaksham Balan Vakeel, Chalakkudykkaran Changathy, Uncle, Oru Pazhaya Bomb Kadha, Oru Kuttanadan Blog, Panchavarnathatha, Parole etc.

Published: January 12, 2020

Updated: January 12, 2020