Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 2 (IANS) Popular Malayalam film actor Cochin Haneefa died at a hospital in Chennai Tuesday, family sources said. He was 58.

Haneefa, known for his villainous roles in movies as well as his prowess at comedy, had been in and out of hospitals since last October following a liver ailment. His body is expected to be brought to Kochi Wednesday for the last rites.

Born as Salim Ahmed Ghoush, the actor who hails from Kochi started off as a mimicry artiste and was also an accomplished script writer.

He entered the film world in 1979 as a villain in "Mamangom", but he slowly turned to comedy and essayed character roles with ease too. In an acting career spanning more than three decades, he acted in more than 300 films including Tamil, Telegu and Hindi.

His last Malayalam film was "Body Guard" released last year. The veteran also directed seven Malayalam and six Tamil films.

Haneefa's all-time hits include "Meesha Madahavan", "Kireedom", "Azhakiya Ravanan", and "Parakam Thalika". He was the director of hit film "Valselyam".

Comic actor Jagadeesh, who acted with Haneefa in several movies, said he was shocked to hear of Haneefa's demise.

"He was a person who struggled and rose to the heights. And his greatness was that he has helped numerous people in his life. He was immediately accepted by the audience when he shifted from being a villain to a comedian and this was because of his superior acting skills," said Jagadeesh.

M.K. Muneer, former minister and chairman of Malayalam television channel India Vision, said he and Haneefa had been friends for many years.

"Incidentally, Haneefa was one of the first people who gave me lot of insights to begin the TV channel. Besides being a great actor, he was a lovely person," Muneer said.

His trademark laughter and dialogue delivery made him a popular and a much sought after actor.

Last year, the Malayalam film industry lost veteran director Lohithadas, popular actors Murali and Rajan P. Dev, all falling victims to liver ailments.

Labels: Cochin-Haneefa

Banner: Damor Films
Film: KURUKSHETHRA
Main Cast: Mohanlal, Kochin Haneefa, Suraj Venjaramood, Saiju Kurup, Kiran
Camera: Lokanathan
Producer: Santhosh Damodar
Directro: Major Ravi

Labels: Cochin-Haneefa, Mohanlal, Suraj-Venjaramoodu

Banner-Malayil movie international
Name of the Film - Bullet
Main cast- Suresh Gopi , Kalabhavan Mani, Jagathy Sreekumar, Cochin Haneefa, Anoop Chandran, Bijukuttan, Sona, Bala, Maria [NoteBook fame] Vijaya Raghavan, Sai kumar, Harisree Asokan, Innocent, Kottayam Nazeer, Ram Raj, Subair, Shobha Mohan, Usha, Ponnamma Babu, Thesni Khan, Sagar Puthiyagadi and others
Camera: Akhil Gopinath
Director: Nizar
Shoot in progress

Labels: Bala, Cochin-Haneefa, Jagathy-Sreekumar, Kalabhavan-Mani, Maria, Sona, Suresh-Gopi

Name of the film : Hareendran Oru Nishkalankan
Main cast : Indrajith, Jayasurya, Manikuttan, Bhama, Sherin, Jagathy Sreekumar, Salim Kumar, Cochin Haneefa, Ambika, Saju Kodiyan, Tiny Tom and others
Music : Berny Ignatius
Cinematography: Venugopal
Producer : Satheesh Nair
Director : Vinayan

Labels: Ambika, Bhama, Cochin-Haneefa, Indrajith, Jagathy-Sreekumar, Jayasurya, Manikuttan, Saju-Kodiyan, Salim-Kumar, Sherin, Tiny-Tom

Pazhassi Raja, Malayalam Movie of Mammootty & Hariharan

Mammootty In & As "Pazhassi Raja"

Hariharan's Magnum Opus Pazhassi Raja will be the Christmas film of Mammootty according to the latest schedules. The film which will be completed in a whooping five crore budget will hit the screens on the 25th of December. The film which is produced by Gokulam Gopalan is now being shot at Thalasserry now, but will take another eighty-five days to complete. Mammootty has allotted more than two months to complete this historical which may well become a path breaking attempt in Malluwood. The film which is made with the aids of latest technical advancements is being shot with Pan Vision camera. Ace Tamil actor Sarath Kumar also debuts into Malayalam with this film playing Edachena Kunkan, the best friend of Pazhassi Raja. The film has a very big cast including Kanika, Manoj K Jayan, Biju Menon, Thilakan, Cochin Haneefa and Kalabhavan Mani.

After a long gap of 18 years, the classic trio - M.T. Vasudevan Nair, the greatest living writer in Malayalam, Hariharan, the master craftsman and Mammootty, one of the finest actors in the country are together again to make the historical Pazhassi Raja.

Starring: Padmashri Bharath Mammootty, Sarathkumar, Nedumudi Venu, Thilakan, Jagathy Sreekumar, Manoj K Jayan, Biju Menon, Siddique, Kalabhavan Mani, Cochin Haneefa, Jagadeesh, Captain Raju, Suresh Krishna, Murali Mohan, Kanika Subramaniam, Padmapriya, Janakiraman, Linda Arsenio, Lakshmi Rai, Urmila Unni

Shots : Hariharan

Producer : Gokulam Gopalan

Story & Screenplay : Njanpith M.T. Vasudevan Nair

Music : Ilayaraja

Lyrics : O.N.V Kurup

Cinematography : Venu

Labels: Biju-Menon, Cochin-Haneefa, Kalabhavan-Mani, Kaniha, Kanika, Mammootty, Manoj-K-Jayan, Pazhassi-Raja, Thilakan