Aashiq Abu

Aashiq Abu was born in Edappally, Kerala[3] to C. M. Abu, and Jameela Abu. Aashiq Abu completed his school education from SRV High School, Kochi. As a pre-degree student at Maharajas College, he was elected to the Students' Union, and was a union member for four consecutive years. He married actress Rima Kallingal on 1 November 2013, in a simple function held in Kakkanad Registration office, Kochi.[4]

After working as an assistant director to Malayalam film director Kamal[3] for about five years, Abu made his directorial debut with Daddy Cool in 2009 starring Mammootty. Salt N' Pepper was his second directorial effort. Salt N' Pepper’s Tamil, Telugu and Hindi remake rights was bought by actor-director Prakash Raj. In 2012, he directed 22 Female Kottayam which was followed by Da Thadiya, Gangster and Rani Padmini. Aashiq Abu has also done a short film, Lost in Bangalore for Mathrubhumi. His 2017 release was Mayaanadhi.[5] On June 7th 2019, his latest movie Virus was released. The movie is based on the true events of the Nipah virus outbreak in Kerala in 2018.

Aashiq Abu has done ad films for Joyalukkas group, Mathrubhumi, Panasonic, Lulu Group, Dubai Gold and Jewellery Group, Media One TV and Club 7. 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 to direct their ad campaign starring Malayalam actors Jayasurya and Fahadh Faasil.

On Kerala Piravi day (November 1, 2019), the body organised the musical event 'Karuna' at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium at Kadavanthra in Kochi promising that the proceedings from the event will be donated to the Chief Minister's Disaster Relief Fund (CMDRF) to help flood victims.

However, an RTI document shared by state BJP Yuva Morcha secretary Sandeep G Varier on Facebook last week revealed that the Chief Minister's office was yet to receive the funds, sparking a controversy. Other than Abu, Shahbaz and Bijbal, the Kochi Music Foundation also has Abu's wife and actress Rima Kallingal, singer Aman, writer Syam Pushkaran and singer Sithara as its members.

Following the controversy, Ernakulam MP Hibi Eden, through a Facebook post, demanded that Abu should make it public whether he has made payment to the government. Following this, Abu posted the image of the cheque for an amount of Rs 6.22 lakh to the Principal Secretary (Finance), CMDRF.The date of the cheque is 14.02.2020. It clearly shows that Rs 6.22 lakh was handed over to CMDRF only after the issue has become a controversy.[6]

• Aashiq Abu on IMDb