KOCHI: Kalabhavan Haneef is one of the pioneers of the Mimic Parade that took mimicry to festival grounds across Kerala. In 1985, Haneef, who walked into the Cochin Kalabhavan along with Zainuddin, went on to shine through mimicry performed during the breaks of the music shows. Later, when Kalabhavan progressed to more acting-oriented skits, the gates of miniscreen and cinema slowly opened before mimicry artists, including Haneef.

When many stars like Jayaram, Harishree Ashokan, Siddique, Lal and others who grew up through Kalabhavan went on to make it big in Malayalam cinema, Haneef also played small roles in more than 150 films. He also acted in over 60 popular television series. He was also one of the main actors in the skit 'Comedyum Mimicsum Pinne Njanum' directed by Kalabhavan Secretary KS Prasad. He also maintained great friendships in the film industry.

Unfortunately, he was not able to achieve huge feats as an actor. Haneef bids farewell to this world leaving behind his dream of owning a house. The condolence notes shared by Major Ravi and Dileep are proof of the friendships that Haneef maintained in the film world.

'A thousand obeisances to my dear brother. This untimely journey was not wanted. My dear brother... accept the salute from this soldier,' Major Ravi wrote on his Facebook page. He also shared a picture of them saluting each other in the yet-to-be-released film 'Kabeerinte Divasangal.'