Mollywood actor Rizabawa, noted for playing John Honai in In Harihar Nagar, passes away at 54

Veteran Mollywood actor and dubbing artiste Rizabawa passed away at a private hospital in Kochi today. The actor was 54. He was admitted to the hospital after reportedly suffering a cardiac arrest four days ago.

Rizabawa, who was noted for his roles in In Harihar Nagar, Aanaval Mothiram and Kabuliwala, made his debut in 1990 through Shaji Kailas’ Dr Pasupathy. While he began his career in a positive role, Rizabawa had predominantly played the villain in the 90s with his character John Honai in Siddique-Lal’s In Harihar Nagar being the most popular. 

In the latter part of his career, Rizabawa had played supporting roles in movies such as Zachariayude Garbhinikal, Romeo and Nirannayakam.

The actor, who was active in theatre circuit before making his foray into films, had also worked in TV serials in the past decade with his notable works being Dhathuputhri, Kana Kanmani, Thenum Vayambum and the ongoing Namam Japikunna Veedu.

Rizabawa had also worked as a dubbing artiste, mostly rendering voice for Thalaivasal Vijay in movies such as Karmayogi, Nidram and The Hit List. He had also given voice to Anupam Kher in Blessy’s directorial Pranayam, which had Mohanlal and Jayaprada in the lead. He won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Dubbing Artist for Karmayogi.

Rizabawa has acted in over a hundred movies in his career spanning 30 years. His last notable role was in the 2015 film Kohinoor. Incidentally, that year, he had also starred in a movie named after his most popular character, John Honai ,along with his In Harihar Nagar co-stars Mukesh, Siddique, Jagadish and Ashokan. The movie, however, is not connected to the Siddique-Lal film.