Rima Kallingal – Popular Malayalam actress with hit films like ‘Ritu’ and ‘22 Female Kottayam’ to her credit

Rima Kallingal is a former model and film actress associated with Malayalam cinema. She was the First Runner-up in the Miss Kerala 2008 contest, after which she pursued a career in acting. Marked her screen debut with Shymaprasad’s highly acclaimed and commercially hit film, Ritu in 2009, she went on to play several strong female characters on big screen, and has completed one decade in the industry. She is married to popular film director Aashiq Babu, with whom she worked in her biggest hit of career, 22 Female Kottayam. In 2019 she was a part of the ensemble cast of Aashiq Babu’s hit film, Virus, based on 2018 Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala. She is a recipient of two state film awards.

Shyamaprasad’s Ritu marked Rima Kallingal’s screen debut

Rima Kallingal hails from Kunnamkulam of Thrissur district, Kerala and was born in 1984. After schooling at Thrissur, she moved to Bangalore for her graduation. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism. She pursued modelling while at Bangalore. She came to limelight after becoming First Runner-up in the Miss Kerala 2008 contest. Though director Lal Jose spotted her and casted her for a Tamil film, the project didn’t materialize and later she marked her screen debut in Ritu with a bunch of newcomers including Asif Ali, Nishaan and Vinay Forrt.

22 Female Kottayam proved to be the major turning point of Rima’s career

After Ritu, she played supporting roles in Neelathaamara and Happy Husbands. She was a part of the ensemble of hyperlink movie, City of God, and received nomination at Filmfare awards, Asianet Film awards and Vanitha Film awards in female lead role. She received Kerala Film Critics Award for Best Actress for the movie, Indian Rupee (2011). The following year she received Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress for Nidra. However it was her woman-centric role in 22 Female Kottayam released same year which brought her to the list of top performers. Since then she mostly portrayed powerful and meaty roles onscreen.

Her roles in Escape from Uganda and Ezhu Sundara Rathrikal gave her nominations at Asianet Award for Best Actress 2013. Same year her role in August Club gave her a nomination at SIIMA. Chirakodinja Kinavukal, Rani Padmini, Kaadu Pookkunna Neram, Clint, Virus etc are some of her noted performances later. She married Aashiq Babu in 2013 in a simple ceremony at a registrar office in Kochi, and donated the money meant for wedding expenses for good causes. She also wore simple ornaments, as a protest to dowry system. She is one of the founding members of Women in Cinema Collective (WCC), and is known for raising strong voice in different matters related to women in the film industry. She is well-known for her feminist views.

Rima Kallingal – Some interesting and less-known facts

1. She received Vanitha Film Awards for Best New Face for her role in Ritu, Kerala Café and Neelathaamara.

2. A member of Dance Company called Nritarutya, she is a professional dancer, who takes part in several live shows.

3. She is trained in martial arts like Kalaripayattu, Taekwondo and Chao.

4. Her character Nurse Akhila of 2019 medical thriller – Virus was modelled on 28-year-old nurse Lini who succumbed to Nipah virus infection in 2018. She turned a film producer with the movie as well.

5. She was a semi-finalist of the Asianet reality show Vodafone Thakadhimi, before joining films.

6. She made a cameo appearance as herself in 2011 Tamil political thriller – Ko.

7. She owns a dance school in Kochi known by the name ‘Mamangam’.

8. She anchored the show Midukki for Mazhavil Manorama in 2013, for which she faced a temporary ban from film industry.

9. She describes herself to be a rebel type earlier, and often her behaviour hurt her parents. Though relatives and friends used to humiliate her parents for giving her extra freedom, they never broke her spirit.

10. She started her dance classes at the age of three, and later when she decided to pursue a career in this field, it shocked her parents. But seeing her passion towards dancing, where she used to attend classes at 6 am, slowly her parents gave in.

11. She is not a believer of god and never visits temples since young. But her parents never forced her to visit temples.

12. A musical concert of a band easily connected her with Aashiq Babu. Later they did 22 Female Kottayam together and got married soon.