Kochi (PTI): Well-known actor and mimicry artist Kalabhavan Haneef died at a private hospital on Thursday here following a brief illness, industry sources said.

Haneef (63) had been under treatment at the hospital for some days, they said.

Hailing from Mattancherry near here, Haneef entered tinsel town through his mimicry performances.

He was a member of Kalabhavan, the famed performance troupe, which has played a key role in popularising the art form of mimicry in Kerala.

Like many of his co-artists in Kalabhavan, Haneefa also entered the world of cinema through a comic role. 'Cheppukilukkana Changathi' was his first movie.

He later acted in over 300 movies, the majority of them in humorous roles, in his years-long career in the film industry.

He also tried his luck in television serials and stage shows.

The Jude Anthony-directed film, '2018', was one of the latest movies in which the actor appeared.

Haneef is survived by his wife and two children.

Superstar Mammootty and Cultural Affairs Minister Saji Cheriyan were among those who condoled the demise of the actor.

In a Facebook post, the minister said Haneef's spontaneous acting skills and dialogue delivery made his roles memorable.

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Ranchi(PTI): The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has emerged as a surprise element in the Jharkhand assembly elections with its candidates leading in five of the six seats where the party is contesting, according to trends available on the Election Commission's website on Saturday.

RJD candidates in five assembly seats were leading over sitting BJP legislators.

In 2019, RJD had secured only the Chatra seat where its nominee Satyanand Bhokta won.

In Deoghar, RJD’s Suresh Paswan was leading by 19,581 votes over his nearest rival and BJP's sitting MLA Narayan Das after the third round of counting.

RJD’s Sanjay Prasad Yadav was ahead by 19,867 votes in Godda over BJP MLA Amit Kumar Mandal after the sixth round of counting.

In Koderma, RJD nominee Subhash Prasad Yadav, who was out on bail, was leading by a margin of 3,471 votes over BJP’s sitting legislator Neera Yadav.

Subhas Prasad Yadav, considered to be one of the close aides of RJD supremo Lalu Prasad, was recently granted bail by the Supreme Court in a money laundering case.

Party’s Naresh Prasad Singh was leading by 5,159 votes after the fourth round of counting over BJP’s Bishrampur MLA Ramchandra Chandravanshi.

RJD's Sanjay Kumar Singh Yadav was also leading from Hussainabad by 8,213 votes after the fourth round of counting over BJP MLA Kamlesh Kumar Singh.

Party’s candidate Rashmi Prakash, however, was trailing from Chatra by 3,776 votes.

Bhokta did not contest the elections this time, and his daughter-in-law Prakash was given a ticket.