Aashiq Abu (born 12 April 1978) is an Indian

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

, producer, actor, and distributor, who works in

Malayalam cinema Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ''Elippathayam' ...

. He is best known for his films such as '' Daddy Cool'' (2009), ''

Salt N' Pepper ''Salt N' Pepper'' is a 2011 Indian Malayalam-language romantic comedy film directed by Aashiq Abu and produced for Lucsam Creations. The film stars Lal, Asif Ali, Shwetha Menon, and Mythili in the lead roles, while Baburaj and Vijayaraghava ...

'' (2011), '' 22 Female Kottayam'' (2012),''

Idukki Gold Idukki Gold or Kerala Gold (also known as ''Mahadevan'' or ''Neela Chadayan'') is the name given to a Cannabis (drug), cannabis strain originating in Idukki in Kerala state of southern India. It is internationally renowned as one of the fines ...

'' (2013)'',

Mayaanadhi ''Mayaanadhi'' () is a 2017 Indian Malayalam-language romantic thriller film directed and co-produced by Aashiq Abu, and written by Syam Pushkaran and Dileesh Nair. The film stars Tovino Thomas as a criminal on the run and Aishwarya Lekshmi ...

'' (2017) and ''

Virus A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1 ...

'' (2019). Abu is often known for his collaboration with screenwriters Syam Pushkaran and

Dileesh Nair Dileesh Nair (born 23 July 1981) is an Indian film director and screenwriter who works in Malayalam cinema. He started out as a 2D animator. He made his script writing debut with ''Salt N' Pepper'' (2011) along with Syam Pushkaran. He debuted ...

. Abu produces and distributes under the banner OPM and OPM Dream Mill Cinemas. OPM produced

Dileesh Pothan Dileesh Philip (born 19 February 1980), also known as Dileesh Pothan is an Indian film director, actor and producer, who works in Malayalam cinema. He made his directorial debut with the 2016 comedy drama film '' Maheshinte Prathikaaram'', st ...

's directional debut '' Maheshinte Prathikaaram'' (2016), which won the

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam The National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, India. It is one of seve ...

Personal life

Aashiq Abu was born in

Edappally Edappally or Idappalli is a region in the city of Kochi, Kerala, India. It is a major commercial centre as well as a prominent residential region. Edappally junction is one of the busiest junctions in the city. History Edappally in English ...

, Kerala to C. M. Abu, and Jameela Abu. Aashiq Abu completed his school education from SRV High School,

Kochi Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

. As a pre-degree student at Maharajas College, he was elected to the

Students' Union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...

, and was a union member for four consecutive years. He married actress

Rima Kallingal Rima Kallingal is an Indian actress and film producer who mainly appears in Malayalam films. She made her Malayalam film debut with '' Ritu'' (2009). She married to the Malayalam film director Aashiq Abu in 2013. Early Life and Career Born in Th ...

on 1 November 2013, in a simple function held in Kakkanad Registration office, Kochi. Aashiq Abu has been part of ''Anbodu Kochi'', a

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...

-based group which works with the local administration, collecting and distributing relief materials in the aftermath of natural disasters. In 2019 November, Kochi Music Foundation of which Aashiq Abu is a part of organised a musical event 'Karuna' in

promising that the proceedings from the event will be donated to the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF) to help flood victims. There was delay in Chief Minister's office receiving the funds, sparking a controversy.

Film career

After working as an

assistant director The role of an assistant director on a film includes tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, and maintaining order on the set. They also have to tak ...

to Malayalam film director Kamal for about five years, Abu made his directorial debut with '' Daddy Cool'' in 2009 starring

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (; born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. He has also appeared in Tamil l ...

. ''

'' was his second directorial effort. ''Salt N' Pepper''’s

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

Telugu Telugu may refer to: * Telugu language, a major Dravidian language of India *Telugu people, an ethno-linguistic group of India * Telugu script, used to write the Telugu language ** Telugu (Unicode block), a block of Telugu characters in Unicode S ...

and

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

remake rights was bought by

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam-language films, he is the recipient of several ...

. In 2012, he directed '' 22 Female Kottayam'' which was followed by ''

Da Thadiya ''Da Thadiya'' ( ml, ടാ തടിയാ, ''Hey Fatso'') is a 2012 Malayalam romantic comedy film directed by Aashiq Abu, and starring Sekhar Menon in the lead role along with Nivin Pauly, Sreenath Bhasi and Ann Augustine in the supporting ro ...

'', ''

Gangster A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...

'' and ''

Rani Padmini Padmini, also known as Padmavati, was a 13th–14th century Rani (queen) of the Mewar kingdom of present-day India. Several medieval texts mention her, although these versions are disparate and many modern historians question the extent of o ...

''. Aashiq Abu has also done a short film, ''Lost in Bangalore'' for Mathrubhumi. His 2017 release was ''

''. On June 7th 2019, his latest movie ''

'' was released. The movie is based on the true events of the

Nipah NIPA, Nipa or nipah may refer to: * Shamim Ara Nipa, Bangladeshi dancer and choreographer * Nipa hut, a type of stilt house indigenous to the cultures of the Philippines * Nipah virus, a Henipavirus NIPA * National Income and Product Accounts ...

virus outbreak in Kerala in 2018.

Ad films

Aashiq Abu has done ad films for

Joyalukkas Joy Alukkas (29 October 1956) is an Indian businessman from Kerala. He is the chairman and managing director of Joyalukkas Jewellery. Early life Joy Alukkas was born in Thrissur, Kerala, on 29 October 1956. His father, Varghese Alukkas, was ...

group, ''

Mathrubhumi ''Mathrubhumi'' is a Malayalam newspaper that is published from Kerala, India. It was founded by K. P. Kesava Menon, an active volunteer in the Indian independence movement, Indian freedom struggle against the British Raj, British. The word "M ...

'',

Panasonic formerly between 1935 and 2008 and the first incarnation of between 2008 and 2022, is a major Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation, headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka, Kadoma, Osaka P ...

Lulu Lulu may refer to: Companies * LuLu, an early automobile manufacturer * Lulu.com, an online e-books and print self-publishing platform, distributor, and retailer * Lulu Hypermarket, a retail chain in Asia * Lululemon Athletica or simply Lulu, a C ...

Group, Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group,

Media One TV MediaOne TV is an Indian Malayalam-language television channel operated by Madhyamam Broadcasting Limited. The channel was licensed in September 2011 and was officially launched on 10 February 2013. The main studio is located at Velliparamba, K ...

and

Club 7 Club 7 was a cultural club in Oslo, Norway, active from 1963 to 1985. It was regarded a centre for counterculture in Norway in the 1960s through the 1970s. There was a wide tolerance for alternative lifestyles, including homosexuality. History Clu ...

. OPM (Original Pixels in Motion) Cinemas led by Aashiq Abu is a production house launched in October 2012. In 2015, Aashiq Abu had been hired by

UAE Exchange UAE Exchange ( ar, مركز الإمارات العربية المتحدة للصرافة ''Markaz Al'Imarat Alearabiat Almutahidat Lilsarafa'') is a United Arab Emirates based company dealing primarily in remittance, foreign exchange and bill ...

to direct their ad campaign starring Malayalam actors

Jayasurya Jayasurya (born August 1978) is an Indian actor, distributor, Sponsor, Model, film producer, playback singer, and impressionist, who works in the Malayalam films. He has appeared in more than 100 films and has won several awards, including a N ...

and

Fahadh Faasil Fahadh Fazil (8 August 1982) is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema and has appeared in few Tamil and Telugu films. He has acted in more than 50 films and has received several awards, including a Nati ...

Filmography

As actor

Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Abu, Aashiq 1978 births Malayalam film directors Living people Maharaja's College, Ernakulam alumni Film directors from Kochi Film producers from Kochi Indian male film actors Male actors in Malayalam cinema 21st-century Indian male actors Male actors from Kochi 21st-century Indian film directors Indian film distributors