Rima Kallingal

Born in Thrissur, Rima Kallingal began dancing when she was three years old. A dancer by profession, she has performed on national and international stages. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Christ University, Bangalore. She completed her schooling from Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Thrissur, passing out in 2001. She was a semi-finalist of the Asianet reality show Vodafone Thakadhimi. She moved to Bangalore 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. 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. The project didn't materialize, but she was offered the lead female character of Varsha by director Shyamaprasad for Ritu, which eventually marked her acting debut.
Rima has turned anchor with the Mazhavil Manorama show "Midukki" which has been started airing.
In February, 2013 she won Kerala State Government award for Best Actress for the film '22 Female Kottayam' for the films produced in the year 2012. Rumors said she has married well known film director Aashiq Abu in April 2013.