Kalabhavan Navas

Navas was born in a village at Wadakkancherry, Thrissur, in 27 April 1974. His father, Aboobacker, was a theatre and film actor who had appeared in several Malayalam films, while his mother, originally from Ernakulam, was a homemaker. Navas grew up with two siblings — an elder brother, Niyas, and a younger brother, Nisam.^[1] The family were practising Muslims. Though his father worked as an actor, his earnings were meagre, and the family lived within limited means during Navas's childhood.^[2]

After beginning his career as an artist, he moved to his mother's ancestral home in Ernakulam and lived there for twenty years. His brother, Niyas Backer, also went on to become a comic actor in film and television.^[1] His other brother Nisam (Nisamuddin) became a journalist.^[3]

Navas and his brother Niyas Backer used to visit the filming location of Venkalam, directed by Bharathan — who was also from Wadakkanchery — and would perform skits at the artists' camp.^[4] Inspired by mimicry artists of the time such as Jayaram and Zainuddin, the brothers developed a keen interest in mimicry and began performing on stage. Navas later joined Kalabhavan, where he started doing professional mimicry shows. Eventually, he became independent and, together with his brother Niyas, founded Cochin Arts, under which they continued performing mimicry.^[5] Navas used to imitate his father's role in Vatsalyam on stage.^[6]

Navas debuted as an actor in the feature film Mr and Mrs in 1992 as Newspaper Boy. He mostly played comic roles in films. He is best known for his roles in Mimics Action 500 (1995), Hitler Brothers (1997), Junior Mandrake (1997), Mattupetti Machan (1998), Chandamama (1999) and Thillana Thillana (2003).^[7] Sometime after his marriage, Navas wrote and directed the telefilm Velicham, which also featured his wife Rehna. The couple also appeared together in the short film Mandan Bench in 2015.^[6] The couple once again played leading roles in the 2025 film Izha, which also marked Rehna's return to feature films.^[8] His final release before death was Detective Ujjwalan (2025).^[7] That same year, he acted in Tiki Taka and Prakambanam. He died shortly after completing the latter.^[9]

Navas was married to Rehna, who had acted in a few films and television serials. Their marriage was arranged while they were both acting in the film Neelakasham Niraye (2002).^[6] The couple had three children — Naharin, Rihan and Ridwan. After their marriage, Navas built a house in Choondy, Aluva, where they lived for several years. Eventually, they moved to a new home he constructed at Nalam Mile, Aluva. Later on, Rehna repurposed their former residence, converting the upper floor into a boutique and the ground floor into a nursery school.^[1] She is originally from Palluruthy.^[2] Their daughter Naharin debuted in the film Confessions of a Cuckoo (2021).^[10]

On 1 August 2025, Navas was found unconscious at a hotel in Chottanikkara, after having returned to his room after a film's shooting. His death was confirmed at the nearest hospital due to cardiac arrest. He was 51.^{[11][12][13][14]}