Harisree Ashokan

Harisree Ashokan (born 6 April 1964) is an Indian actor and director who is known for his comedy roles in Malayalam films. Ashokan has acted in more than 200 Malayalam films. He started his career as a mimicry artist in the troupe Harisree and then worked in Kalabhavan.

Early life Ashokan (nicknamed Babu) was born as the sixth child among ten children to the late Kunjappan and late Janaki on 6 April 1964, in Ernakulam, Kerala. His siblings include the late Raveendran, the late Sasindran, Mohanan, Anil, Sunil, Santha, Vimala, and the late Sujatha. He had his primary education from MIHS Ernakulam. After tenth, he joined Kuyilin's Cochin Kalavedi. He holds a diploma in Telecom Engineering from Ernakulam, Kerala. He found work as an assistant lineman in 1984 with the telecom department in Kochi, Kerala. He worked there until 1987 when he became an electric lineman.

Career While working at the telecom department, Ashokan joined Kalabhavan and worked for 6 years and later moved to Harisree, after which he began to be called "Harisree Ashokan". His elder brother was also a telecom officer.

Asokan was always interested in acting and had been an amateur theatre actor. He got his first break with the movie Parvathy Parinayam directed by P.G. Viswambharan where he played the role of a beggar.

Ashokan made his screen debut in the 1986 movie Pappan Priyappetta Pappan. He played several roles in the next few years. His role in Parvathy Parinayam gave his first breakthrough in Malayalam cinema. He acted in around ten movies in 1994 after acting in Parvathy Parinayam. In the movie Vrudhanmare Sookshikkuka in 1994, he played one of the lead roles alongside Dileep, with whom Ashokan eventually formed one of the most celebrated comedy pairs in Malayalam film industry throughout his career.

In the 1998 movie Punjabi House, Ashokan played the character Ramanan. Many consider this as the best performance by Harishree Ashokan of his career. Dileep-Harishree Ashokan duo's another hit movie is Ee Parakkum Thalika, which was released in 2001; in this movie, he played the role of Sundaran. He played the character of Sugunan in the 2002 movie Meesha Madhavan, which became the highest grossing Malayalam movie of the year. Harishree Ashokan's most famous roles in his career came out in 2003. In the slapsick comedy C.I.D. Moosa, he played the role of Thorappan Kochunni, and in the movie Pulival Kalyanam, he played the role of Theeppori Kuttappan. He played the character Krishankutty in Thilakkam. His role as Ugran in the movie Chronic Bachelor was also appreciated by the audience. All these films were major blockbusters in 2003. In the 2005 Malayalam movie Boyy Friennd, Ashokan played the villain role for the first time in his career.

Dileep and Harishree Ashokan are regarded as a popular comedy pair in Malayalam cinema of the 90s and early 2000s. The duo have acted together in plenty of movies. Vriddanmarund Sookshikkuga, Punjabi House, Ee Parakkum Thalika, Meesa Madhavan, C.I.D Moosa, Thilakkam, Runway, Kochi Rajavu, Pandippada, Crazy Gopalan, Chess, Kuberan, Kaaryastan are some among the major movies among them.

Ashokan made his directional debut through the 2019 movie An International Local Story.

Personal life He is married to Preetha. The couple has two children, Sreekutty and Malayalam film actor Arjun Ashokan.

Filmography

As actor

1980s

1990s

2000s

2010s

2020s Year Title Role Notes 2021 Minnal Murali Dasan Keshu Ee Veedinte Nadhan Kunjikrishnan 2022 Priyan Ottathilanu Kuppi Rajan Hasyam Cadaver agent 2023 Kunjamminis Hospital Pappachan Maharani Anirudhan A Ranjith Cinema Shashankan 2024 Anweshippin Kandethum Postman Chandran 2025 Rekhachithram Gopinath Aabhyanthara Kuttavaali Makkar Kerala Crime Files 2 Ayyappan Disney+ Hotstar web series Paathirathri SI Rasheed 2026 Magic Mushrooms Shakespeare Gopalankutty Prathichaya Purushothaman

As director +YearFilmRoleLanguageNotes2019 An International Local StoryAyyappan Nair MalayalamDirectorial debut