Abu Salim (born 11 May 1956) is an Indian film actor, bodybuilder, and retired police officer, who works predominantly in the

Malayalam cinema Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam, Malayalam language, primarily spoken in Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands. It encompasses both th ...

. He has also acted in a few

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

, Tamil and Telugu films. He has mostly played villain roles.

Early life

Abu Salim was born as the second son among six children to Kunhammed and Fathima at Kalpetta in Wayanad district. He had his primary education from S. K. M. J. High School, Kalpetta. Salim developed an interest in

bodybuilding Bodybuilding is the practice of Resistance training, progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one's skeletal muscle, muscles via muscle hypertrophy, hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to a ...

after being inspired by the work of actor and bodybuilder

Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...

, whom he considers his role model. He has won several bodybuilding titles, including Mr. Calicut in 1981, Mr. Kerala in 1982, Mr. South India three times (in 1983, 1986, and 1987), and Mr. India twice (in 1984 and 1992). He served as a sub-inspector in the

Kerala Police The Kerala Police is the law enforcement agency for the Indian state of Kerala. Kerala Police has its headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, the state capital. The motto of the force is "Mridhu Bhave Dhrida Kruthye" which means "Soft in Temperament, ...

and retired in 2012. Salim has trained in some

kalaripayattu Kalaripayattu (), also known simply as Kalari, is an Indian martial art that originated on the southwestern coast of India, in what is now Kerala, during the 3rd century BCE. Etymology Kalaripayattu is a martial art which developed out of co ...

and holds a black belt in

shotokan is a style of karate, developed from various martial arts by Gichin Funakoshi (1868–1957) and his son Gigo (Yoshitaka) Funakoshi (1906–1945). Gichin Funakoshi was born in Okinawa and is widely credited with popularizing "karate do" thro ...

-style

karate (; ; Okinawan language, Okinawan pronunciation: ), also , is a martial arts, martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the Okinawan martial arts, indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tī'' in Okinawan) un ...

Career

Salim made his film debut in 1978 with ''

Rajan Paranja Kadha ''Rajan Paranja Kadha'' () is a 1978 Indian Malayalam-language crime film directed by Mani Swamy and produced by Mani M. K. The film stars Kaviyoor Ponnamma, Jose Prakash, Sankaradi and Sukumaran. The film has musical score by G. Devarajan. Pl ...

''. He played a significant role in the Ranjith-directed ''

Prajapathi ''Prajapathi'' () is a 2006 Malayalam-language action drama film written and directed by Ranjith (director), Ranjith. It stars Mammootty, Siddique (actor), Siddique, Sreenivasan, Nedumudi Venu, and Thilakan. The music was by Tej Manoj. The fil ...

''. In the 2015 crime film '' Loham'', he portrayed a character inspired by the looks of

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE, where he performs on a part-time basis. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional w ...

, which was a departure from his usual roles, as it was a positive character. In the same year, he played Stalin Mammali, the father of

Jayasurya Jayasurya (born 31 August 1978) is an Indian actor, film producer, playback singer, and impressionist who works in Malayalam films. He has appeared in more than 100 films and has won several awards, including a National Film Awards, National Fi ...

's character, in the comedy film '' Amar Akbar Anthony'', performing a humorous character.

Personal life

He married Ummukulsu on 23 May 1982. The couple has a daughter, Sabitha and a son, Sanu Salim. His daughter lives in

Wollongong Wollongong ( ; Dharawal: ''Woolyungah'') is a city located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia. The name is believed to originate from the Dharawal language, meaning either 'five islands/clouds', 'ground near water' or 'sound ...

, Australia with her husband and children. His son runs a restaurant in Kalpetta, a media studio in

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

and a packet food manufacturing company in

Kochi Kochi ( , ), List of renamed Indian cities and states#Kerala, formerly known as Cochin ( ), is a major port city along the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea. It is part of the Ernakulam district, district of Ernakulam in the ...

Filmography

Malayalam

Hindi

* '' Malamaal Weekly'' (2006) * '' Kamaal Dhamaal Malamaal'' (2012) * '' Rangrezz'' (2013)

Tamil

*'' Ratchagan'' (1997) * ''

Majaa ''Majaa'' () is a 2005 Indian Tamil-language masala film directed by Shafi and produced by Rockline Venkatesh. It is a remake of the director's own Malayalam film '' Thommanum Makkalum'' (2005). The film stars Vikram, Asin, and Pasupathy, ...

'' (2005)

Telugu

* ''

Devi ''Devī'' (; ) is the Sanskrit word for 'goddess'; the masculine form is Deva (Hinduism), ''deva''. ''Devi'' and ''deva'' mean 'heavenly, divine, anything of excellence', and are also gender-specific terms for a deity in Hinduism. The concept ...

'' (1999) * '' Devi Putrudu'' (2001)

References

External links

*
Abu Salim at MSI

at Malayalachalachithram.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Salim, Abu Living people Indian male film actors Male actors from Kerala Male actors in Tamil cinema Male actors in Malayalam cinema 1956 births People from Wayanad district 20th-century Indian male actors 21st-century Indian male actors Male actors in Hindi cinema Male actors in Telugu cinema