Rima Kallingal

Born in 1984 in Thrissur, Kerala, Rima Kallingal began practising dancing when she was three years old.[1] 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 in Stanes Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School, Coonoor up to Fifth grade.[2] She completed her schooling from Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Thrissur, graduating in 2001. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Christ University, Bengaluru.[3][4] She is also skilled in Taekwondo (Korean martial art), Chao (Manipuri martial art) and Kalari.[1]

She was a semi-finalist of the Asianet reality show Vodafone Thakadhimi. She moved to Bengaluru to pursue a modelling career and later participated in the Miss Kerala beauty pageant, in which be she became the first runner-up, losing to Shree Thulasi in a tie-breaker.[5]

She was spotted by director Lal Jose on a magazine cover, who cast her for a goat herder role in a Tamil film Mazhai Varappoguthu.[6] The project didn't materialise, but she was offered the lead female character of Varsha by director Shyamaprasad for Ritu, which eventually marked her acting debut.[5] She was 25 when she acted in the film.[3]

In 2012, she acted in the film 22 Female Kottayam which became a big success,[3] commercially as well as critically.[7][8] She received praises[9] and won many awards for her portrayal of Tessa.[10] She also won the Kerala State Government award for Best Actress. After 22 Female Kottayam she told 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".[7]

In 2013, Rima turned television anchor with the Mazhavil Manorama show "Midukki".[11][12] Following which the Kerala Film Chamber imposed a ban on her which was revoked later.[13]

In 2014 she set up her own Dance institute Mamangam in Kochi, Kerala.

Rima married director Aashiq Abu on 1 November 2013, in a simple ceremony held in Kakkanad Registration office, Kochi. As part of the occasion, they donated Rs 1 million towards the welfare of poor cancer patients at the General Hospital, Ernakulam, and Rs 25,000 to meet a day's expense of the dietary kitchen at the hospital.[14][15][16][17]

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• Media related to Rima Kallingal at Wikimedia Commons
• Rima Kallingal at IMDb