‘Kantara 2’ team suffered another loss as mimicry artist and actor Kalabhavan Niju, aged 43, tragically passed away on Thursday in Bengaluru, where the film is currently in production.According to an Onmanorama report, Niju had complained of severe chest pain while at the homestay arranged for junior artists. He was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to a heart attack.Coming from Vadanappally in Thrissur, Niju was a well-known mimicry artist who had an experience of around 25 years in the field. He started doing mimicry two decades ago during a roadshow conducted by Kerala’s mimicry artists. His work was appreciated in supporting roles, most notably in the hit film ‘Malikappuram’, where he shared screen space with Unni Mukundan and also appeared in the action film ‘Marco’.Niju had earned his place in the Rishab Shetty starrer ‘Kantara 2’ through auditions. He is now the third member to pass away during the production of ‘Kantara 2’. He is also the second Malayali artist to die while associated with the film. Just weeks ago, popular Kannada actor Rakesh Pujari, known for his role in ‘Kantara 1’, died of cardiac arrest at the age of 33.On the other hand, a junior artiste M.F. Kapil, who was working on ‘Kantara: Chapter 1’, drowned in the Souparnika river in Karnataka’s Udupi district. The makers later issued a statement, expressing their deep sadness by his untimely passing, however, they clarified that the incident did not occur on the sets of Kantara. They wrote, “No filming was scheduled on that day, and the unfortunate event would have occurred during his personal engagement outside the scope of any film related activity.“
