Cochin Haneefa: A Tribute.

For those who were lucky enough to have known him as an actor, he was incomparable (the past tense seems to gnaw), for those who had the privilege to known him as a friend and a part of the family, he was irreplaceable. But, like most of the creative aces of his generation that the Malayalam film industry seemed to be so overwhelmingly blessed with, he had that magic that blurred the divide. He was so powerful and endearing as an actor, that he was family to most, 33 million on last count. The last three months have been unusually cruel and painful to the Malayalam film industry, reeling under the loss of stalwarts like Bharath Gopi, Rajan.P.Dev, Murali – acharyas in emotive excellence, probably the best the Indian film industry has ever seen. And all of them had cast their imprints on celluloid that have come to be dissected, reflected, revered and worshiped for the brilliant craftsmanship this generation brought to the silver screen, straddling commercial and critical aesthetics with consummate ease. And so it is with Cochin Haneefa too, the actor who made “Aaaaasaney” ( Maestro) almost his signature call-sign on film.

Though a natural on stage with his uncanny capability as an impresario who did spot-on accents and imitations of the then South Indian superstars (he was a minor celebrity in his own right in the stand-up comedy routine in Kerala), Cochin Haneefa had to be satisfied with bit-roles in his initial struggling days in finding a foothold in the Malayalam film industry. Positive and generous to the core, it wasn’t long before the roles started increasing their screen time and scope. After the staid initial days of playing the main villain or his faithful Friday, he seems to bring a quiet menace to the screen with his presence. It was almost as if  his characters managed an unpleasant chill through the times they lasted in the story. Cochin Haneefa had inborn talent, creative imagination, independent will and discipline. This coupled with sheer hard work had him first writing screenplays, direct movies in Tamil and Malayalam, most of them commercial box-office scorchers. The actor in him was also undergoing a conscious change. From the gritty, dark and single-dimensional puryeor of violence on screen, he slowly drifted back to his first love – humor. And for the current generation of movie fans, it is this aspect of his emotive capabilities that have made him so endearing and hugely respected.

There was a method to the bumbling madness he brought on screen, something so rooted and reflective of someone whom you knew closely in life, through his characters in his second coming. Watching Cochin Haneefa onscreen was sheer pleasure in his new avatar, because he was just performing it with the natural grace that came so effortlessly from his core talent – biting humor. There was a faint undercurrent  of sadness in most of the characters he portrayed, and the most memorable (read melodramatic) were also deeply rooted  in everyday life.

From Hydrose ( Kireedom, reprised in Chenkol), The Fish Trader ( Punjabi House), Eldos ( Mannar Mathai Speaking), Thrivikraman ( Meesa Madhavan), Mani Uncle ( Suthradharan), CI Veerappan ( Ee Parakkum Thalika), it was as if Cochin Haneefa literally lived those roles onscreen so convincingly, that you almost believed they could be real. Some were over-the-top, some searing while some others were effortless but all came bundled in his trademark dialogue deliveries and bumbling wit. And it had you shaking with pure laughter.

After directing close to 13 movies, scripting another 25 in Malayalam and Tamil, leaving a legacy in an industry known to accept worthy talent, Cochin Haneefa left to move the star to laughter and tears with his next edition on another plane, this time celestial.

Here is to you, Malayalam Movies’ favorite exponent of the slapstick and searing humor, you will be forever missed.

Badly, sadly missed.

Watch a clipping from Cochin Haneefa’s most successful movie , Valsalayam (affection), scripted by Lohitdas which gave Mammootty his much needed oxygen in a sagging career almost set on autodestruct with a string of vanilla roles.

Also read about Reelity’s pick of Cochin Haneefa’s most memorable  roles in comedy here.