Hareesh Perumanna alias Hareesh Kanaran – Mimicry artist & Malayalam film actor best known as “Jaliyan Kanaran”

Hareesh Perumanna, also known as Hareesh Kanaran is a character artist and comedian associated with Malayalam cinema since 2014. He was a mimicry artist, based in Kozhikode before he joined film stream. As an artist he got his first big break through Comedy Festival, aired on Mazhavil Manorama where he was a team member alongside Nirmal Palazhi representing the mimicry troupe, Calicut V4U, which participated in the show. 2014 comedy movie, Ulsaha Committee marked his big screen debut, and since then he has played big and small roles in around 50 Malayalam films. After Mammukoya, he along with Nirmal Palazhi forms a unique pair on silver screen and small screen, who excelled in handling Kozhikode dialect perfectly before the audience.

Hareesh Perumanna hails from Perumanna of Kozhikode district. He lost his mother at the age of 7, when he was studying in class 2. Later he was brought up by his maternal uncle. During his school days at Ganapath High School, mimicry artist Devarajan became his classmate, and later they performed together in many stages. He appeared in a stage play, ‘Naattam’ directed by Jayaprakash Kuloor. Acting dreams slowly started to become serious. After class 10, he discontinued his school days and got involved with mimicry troupes. He also worked as a daily wage labourer those days. He was still in touch with Devarajan who was studying in college.

He initially worked with “Calicut Friends” mimicry troupe and after working with different troupes, he formed Calicut V4U along with a group of friends including Nirmal Palazhi, Vinod Kovoor and his classmate Devarajan. He came to limelight for the first time after he appeared in the comedy reality show aired in Mazhavil Manorama, Comedy Festival. In fact he and Nirmal Palazhi were the team members of Calicut V4U, which participated in the show. The show helped both these mimicry artists to get first break in films. He is best known for his characters “Jaliyan Kanaran” and “Babuvettan” in the show. After the super success of the show, the tag ‘Kanaran’ got suffixed to his name.

His super success in the show gave him the first break to big screen through Ulsaha Committee co-starring Jayaram. He reprised his popular character “Jaliyan Kanaran” in his debut flick. It was followed by a cameo role as one of the two thieves who appear in the first and last scenes of the film Sapthamashree Thaskaraha, who dig a tunnel to rob the treasure of Padmanabha temple. Though the role was brief, it got noticed and Hareesh was flooded with film offers.

He was later seen in Kunji Ramayanam, Accha Din, Two Countries, Hello Namasthe, Oppam, Welcome to Central Jail, Rakshadhikari Baiju Oppu, Honeybee 2.5, Allu Ramendran, Salt Mango Tree, Ittymaani: Made in China, And the Oscar Goes To.…, Akasaganga 2 etc. Basically he is a comedian. Yet he has also handled serious roles on screen, most notably his role as a mentally challenged youngster in Rakshadhikari Baiju Oppu earned him rave reviews. It also gave him a break from routine stereotype roles of a comedian. Now he is a busy character artist of Malayalam cinema.

Hareesh Perumanna (Hareesh Kanaran ) – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. He and stage artist and actor Nirmal Palazhi have shared stage space for mimicry performances before he turned a film actor. Both were founding members of Kozhikode-based mimicry troupe, Calicut V4U which participated in Comedy Festival, and gave both early breaks to films. In Nirmal’s opinion both of them come from similar family backgrounds and also have similarities in their professional life; the reason why both mutually understand better. 

2. His popular character “Jaliyan Kanaran” of the show Comedy Festival was initially performed on stage by well-known artist Vinod Kovoor. When the actor turned busy, Hareesh took the role, which shot him to instant fame and also earned him many nominations and awards.

3. His role as “Jaliyan Kanaran” earned him state award for best TV comedian.

4. He used the local dialect of Perumanna (of Kozhikode district) for the show Comedy Festival, which played a magnificent role in making his character a super hit.

5. He is married to a school teacher, and the couple has one son. His wife Sandhya is a singer and teaches music at school.

6. He met his future wife in a tutorial class during his academic years. Love blossomed between the two and they got married.

7. He belonged to a poor family. During his struggling days he has worked as a labourer for painting works in constructions and also worked as an auto driver.

8. He worked in a broker office during his early days in mimicry field, and also as a film projector operator at a film theatre.

9. During his struggling days, he even performed on stage as a mimicry artist for just 50 rupees. When he missed his last bus to hometown after his late night shows, instead of taking a room for rent he used to sleep at the beach of Kozhikode town.

10. He was a member of Dileep Fans’ Association in Kozhikode. So he named his auto as ‘Kochi Rajavu’.

11. He was associated with painting work, when he along with his friends decided to join hands together and participate in the show, Comedy Festival representing Calicut V4U. The show was a big success, and proved to the turning points of the careers of both he and Nirmal Palazhi.