Rima Kallingal is an Indian actress and film producer who primarily works in

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

films.

Early life and work

Born in

Thrissur Thrissur (, ), Renaming of cities in India, formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the List of most populous urban agglomerations in Ke ...

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

, Kallingal began practising dancing when she was three years old. A dancer by profession, she has been a part of a dance company called Nritarutya and has had performances on national and international stages. She studied at Stanes Schools,

Coonoor Coonoor (), is a taluk and a municipal town of the Nilgiris district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. As of 2011, the town had a population of 45,494. The town sits at the south-east corner of the Nilgiri plateau, and at the head of the Coonoo ...

up to Fifth grade. She completed her schooling at

Chinmaya Vidyalayas Chinmaya Vidyalayas are a group of schools operated by the Central Chinmaya Mission Trust (CCMT), founded by Swami Chinmayananda and currently headed by Swami Tejomayananda. There are more than 80 Chinmaya Vidyalayas across 12 states in Indi ...

, graduating in 2001. She holds a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in Journalism from the

Christ University Christ University, earlier known as Christ College, is a private deemed-to-be-university located in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. On 22 July 2008, It was declared as an institution deemed to be university under section 3 of UGC Act 1956. Chr ...

Bengaluru Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

. She is also skilled in

Taekwondo Taekwondo (; ; ) is a Korean martial art and combat sport involving primarily kicking techniques and punching. "Taekwondo" can be translated as ''tae'' ("strike with foot"), ''kwon'' ("strike with hand"), and ''do'' ("the art or way"). In ad ...

(Korean martial art), Chao (Manipuri martial art) and

Kalari A kalari is a gymnasium or training space primarily associated with the martial art of Kalaripayattu. The word ''kalari'' comes from Tamil. In the past, village schools in Tamilnadu, typically run by the traditional astrologer families, were k ...

. She was a semi-finalist of the

Asianet Asianet may refer to: JioStar channels * JioStar, is an Indian media conglomerate wholly owned by Disney India. ** Asianet, a Malayalam language general entertainment channel ** Asianet Plus, a Malayalam language general entertainment channel ** As ...

reality show ''

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public Limited Company () is a British Multinational company, multinational telecommunications company. Its registered office and global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It predominantly operates Service (economic ...

Thakadhimi''. She moved to

to pursue a modelling career and later participated in the Miss Kerala beauty pageant, in which she became the first runner-up, losing to Shree Thulasi in a tie-breaker.

Career

Kallingal was spotted by director

Lal Jose Lal Jose is an Indian director, actor, producer, and distributor who works in the Malayalam film industry. He started his career as an Assistant director in the Malayalam cinema. His directorial debut was with the 1998 film '' Oru Maravat ...

on a magazine cover, who cast her as a goat herder role in a Tamil film ''Mazhai Varappoguthu''. The project didn't materialise, but she was offered the lead female character of Varsha by director

Shyamaprasad Shyamaprasad (born 7 November 1960) is an Indian filmmaker, screenwriter and actor who works in Malayalam films. Career Shyamaprasad was born on 7 November 1960 in Palakkad, Kerala, India as the younger son of O. Rajagopal and Santhakumari. H ...

for '' Ritu'', which eventually marked her acting debut. She was 25 when she acted in the film. In 2012, Kallingal played a nurse and rape victim in '' 22 Female Kottayam'' opposite

Fahadh Faasil Abdul Hameed Mohammed Fahad Fazil (born 8 August 1982), professionally known as Fahadh Faasil, is an Indian actor and producer who primarily works in Malayalam films. Noted for his diverse portrayals, Fahadh is among the highest-paid and most ...

, which had a decent run at the box office. A critic of ''

News18 Network18 Media & Investments Limited, ( d/b/a Network18 Group) is an Indian media conglomerate owned by the Reliance Industries, headed by Mukesh Ambani. Rahul Joshi is the managing director, chief executive officer and group editor-in-chief ...

'' noted, "The film belongs to Rima who sinks into the skin of the character with a spectacular performance." The film earned her

Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam The Filmfare Best Actress Award is given by the ''Filmfare'' magazine as part of its annual Filmfare Awards South for Malayalam films. The awards were extended to "Best Actress" in 1972. The year indicates the year of release of the film. Mul ...

and

Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress The Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress is an award presented annually at the Kerala State Film Awards of India since 1969 to an actress for the best performance within the Malayalam cinema, Malayalam film industry. Until 1997, the awards w ...

. After ''22 Female Kottayam'', she said that she had made some mistakes in her career and stated "Yes, I have done a few films I never should have, but I am determined not to repeat those mistakes". In 2013, Kallingal turned television anchor with the

Mazhavil Manorama Mazhavil Manorama is an Indian Malayalam language general entertainment Free-to-air television channel owned by Malayala Manorama. The channel’s headquarters is at Aroor, Alappuzha in Kerala, India. History The channel has been on air sin ...

show " Midukki". Following which the Kerala Film Chamber imposed a ban on her which was later revoked. That year, Kallingal played a young housewife in ''

August Club ''August Club'', also called ''August Club Since 1969'', is a 2013 Malayalam romantic drama film directed by K. B. Venu.It tells the story about the nuances in marital life. The film's screenplay is written by Anantha Padmanabhan and is based on ...

''. Paresh C Palicha of ''

Rediff.com Rediff.com, stylized as rediff.com, is an Indian news, information, entertainment, and shopping website. Founded by Ajit Balakrishnan in 1996, it was the first Indian website to become a mainstream news media organization. It is headquartered i ...

'' noted, "Rima as Savithri, is someone who has learnt to stifle her feelings and finding other ways to give them an outlet." Her other notable films include the 2015 film ''

Rani Padmini Padmini, also known as Padmavati or Rani Padmavati, was a 13th–14th century queen of the Kingdom of Mewar in India. Several medieval texts mention her, although these versions are disparate and many modern historians question the extent of t ...

'' alongside

Manju Warrier Manju Warrier (; born 10 September 1978/1979) is an Indian actress, who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema. She is the recipient of a National Film Award, a Kerala State Film Award and seven Filmfare Awards South. Warrier made her actin ...

and the 2019 film ''

Virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living Cell (biology), cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Viruses are ...

'' alongside an ensemble cast. Both films emerged commercial successes. In ''Rani Padmini'', she played a tomboy. Deepa Soman was appreciative of her "knockout performance". In ''Virus'', she played a nurse battle the deadly disease. Sowmya Rajendran found her performance "expressive". In the 2021 film, '' Santhoshathinte Onnam Rahasyam'', Kallingal played an entertainment reporter opposite Jitin Puthenchery.

Baradwaj Rangan Baradwaj Rangan () is an Indian film critic and writer. A chemical engineering graduate with no formal training in filmmaking or cinema writing, he has a diverse career in advertising, IT consulting, and cinema writing. He has authored two boo ...

found her to be "terrific". The film won her Best Actress at the Diorama International Film Festival.

Media image

Kallingal's roles from ''22 Female Kottayam'', ''August Club'' and ''Rani Padmini'' are considered among the strongest female character in Malayalam films. Kallingal was named the Kochi Times Most Desirable Women in 2012. In 2014, she set up her own dance institute, named Mamangam 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 ...

. It was later was shut down in 2021, because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Personal life

Kallingal married director

Aashiq Abu Aashiq Abu (born 12 April 1978) is an Indian film director, producer, cinematographer, actor, and distributor, who works in Malayalam cinema. He is best known for his films such as '' Daddy Cool'' (2009), '' Salt N' Pepper'' (2011), '' 22 Female ...

on 1 November 2013, in a simple court wedding in

. As part of the occasion, the couple donated Rs 1 million towards the welfare of poor cancer patients at the General Hospital,

Ernakulam Ernakulam () is the central business district of the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is the namesake of Ernakulam district. The eastern part of Kochi city is mainly known as Ernakulam, while the western part of it after the Venduruthy Bridge ...

, and Rs 25,000 to meet a day's expense of the dietary kitchen at the hospital.

Filmography

As actress

*All projects are in Malayalam language unless noted

As producer

Television

Web series

Accolades

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Kerala Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress The Kerala Film Critics Association Award for Best Actor is an award presented annually at the Kerala Film Critics Association Awards, honouring the best performances by female actors in Malayalam films. Superlatives Winners See also * Ker ...

for ''

Indian Rupee The Indian rupee (symbol: ₹; code: INR) is the official currency of India. The rupee is subdivided into 100 '' paise'' (Hindi plural; singular: ''paisa''). The issuance of the currency is controlled by the Reserve Bank of India. The Reserve ...

''. *

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

for '' 22 Female Kottayam''. *

for ''22 Female Kottayam''. *

: SIIMA Critics Award for Best Actress – Malayalam for ''22 Female Kottayam''. * 2013: Vanitha Film Award for Best Actress for ''22 Female Kottayam''. * 2016: Vanitha Film Award for Special Performance – Actress for ''

''. * 2021: Vanitha Film Award for Best Social Responsible Actress for ''

''. *

2025 So far, the year has seen the continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudanese civil war, and the Gaza war. Internal crises in Bangladesh post-resignation v ...

for ''Theatre - The Myth of Reality''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kallingal, Rima Indian film actresses Actresses in Tamil cinema Living people Actresses from Thrissur Kerala State Film Award winners Kerala Film Critics Awards winners Actresses in Malayalam cinema 21st-century Indian actresses Filmfare Awards South winners Indian television actresses Actresses in Malayalam television Female models from Kerala Christ University alumni Indian female taekwondo practitioners Year of birth missing (living people)