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THEY SAY THERE ARE FIVE STAGES OF GRIEF
Rima Kallingal, the Malayalam actress and diva, has her own way how to express her grief, as playful as Cruella de Vil. From a calm socialite, she morphed into an unhinged puppy kidnapper and then a vindictive glamourpuss. Why don’t we hate her? Well... “The thing is, Cruella de Vil was born brilliant.”
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SHAFISHAKKEER
Rima Kallingal is an Indian film actress, who mainly appears in Malayalam films. She has also appeared in Tamil and Hindi films. She was first runner-up in the Miss Kerala beauty pageant in 2008. Rima Kallingal made her Malayalam film debut with Ritu (2009). She has also received numerous accolades, including a Filmfare Award.
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SHAFISHAKKEER
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SHAFISHAKKEER
Born in 1984 in Thrissur, Kerala, Rima Kallingal began practising dancing when she was three years old. 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. She completed her schooling from Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Thrissur, graduating in 2001. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Christ University, Bengaluru. She is also skilled in Taekwondo (Korean martial art), Chao (Manipuri martial art) and Kalari.
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.
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SHAFISHAKKEER
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 materialise, but she was offered the lead female character of Varsha by director Shyamaprasad for Ritu, which eventually marked her acting debut. She was 25 when she acted in the film.
In 2012, she acted in the film 22 Female Kottayam which became a big success, commercially as well as critically. She received praises and won many awards for her portrayal of Tessa. 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".
In 2013, Rima turned television anchor with the Mazhavil Manorama show "Midukki". Following which the Kerala Film Chamber imposed a ban on her which was revoked later. In 2014 she set up her own Dance institute Mamangam in Kochi, Kerala.
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SHAFISHAKKEER
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.
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SHAFISHAKKEER
CREDITS:
Photography: @shafishakkeer
MUA: @priyaabhishekjoseph
Costumes and styling: Moi
Photography team: @am_haadil
Coordinated by: @reeltribe
The actress, who dances through all life difficulties with unpretended intelligence, beauty and charm. With the mirror in her eyes, she can be even Cruella de Vil.
SHILPI RAJAN: FIGURE, FIELD & FACT
Aazhi Archives and Uru Art Harbour are proud to present Shilpi Rajan, one of the living legends from Kerala, a self-taught artist hails from Thrissur, create his sculptures from natural materials in spirit of making shapes, enduring life and humour layered with tragic marks.
Theyyam is a vibrant and colourful form of ritualistic worship that is deeply rooted in the culture and traditions of Kerala, India. This living tradition involves elaborate rituals, music, dance, and vibrant costumes that bring to life the divine spirits being invoked.
What if precarity is the condition of our time or, to put it an other way, what if our time is ripe for sensing precarity? What if precarity, indeterminacy, and what we imagine as trivial are the center of the systematicity we seek?
INDIA IN STYLE: 100 DAYS OF ART
India in Style, was created as part of Ayurveda Trails & Journals. During the Kochi-Muziris Biennale 2025-26, our founder Zuzana Zwiebel introduces one artist, event, or organisation every day, Here are the first 25 artworks. Let us inspire you!
Can prehistoric artifacts be art? Come see for yourself at Kara in Fort Cochin! Mohamed A’s photographic images of excavations and the excavated - real, yet mysterious and enigmatic - take us on a journey into Kerala’s prehistoric past.
KOCHI-MUZIRIS BIENNALE 2025-26
The 6th edition of the KMB 2025 is curated by Nikhil Chopra with HH Art Spaces, an artist led organisation based in Goa. Chopra is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice interweaves performance, drawing, photography, sculpture, and installation.
Ganesha is not for the artist a religious figure, it is a very personal almost incomprehensible connection, which has become a relationship that he commonly describes as being a mirror to the soul. Ganesha, in this case, is about portraying the image of a formless energy.
Chilean poet and featuring artist at the Kochi Muziris Biennale 2016 on the possibility of an artistic response to the human crises of our time, including the refugee crisis surrounding the conflict in Syria. The sea, which became a grave for hundreds of people, including children.
INTERNATIONAL SPICE ROUTE CONFERENCE 2026
Welcome to the First Edition of the Spice Routes Conference organized by the Muziris Heritage Project, Government of Kerala January 6-8, 2026 in Bolgatty Palace, Kochi. Step into a world where history, culture, and global connections converge.
A new beginning is always infused with hope. Life is full of moments that we believe to be beginnings only because of the presence of hope. A physical symbol of these moments of hope is the flower. The films attempts to capture the emotion of these beginnings.
Dravidian Catharsis is the fruit of this deep immersion in the culture, the theatre, the traditions, and the soul of this mythological universe of the Tamil people. The powerful presences of spirits and living gods are embodied under masks.
Legend says that somewhere deep in the forest of the Himalayas is a strange bird that lays psychedelic eggs. Eating them will give you highly vivid hallucinations. The indigenous shamans believe that these visions are from your past life.
Ryuichi Sakamoto passed away this year on 28th March leaving behind a legacy of innumerable musical compositions that'll keep him alive in countless hearts across the world. However, I'll always be haunted by the fact that I couldn't let him know that I'm still alive because of his music along with many more.
Search for the questions to the answers written on the skin...and i asked. am i connected to the deep inside you? with the invisible roots from the layered skin of you? all the energy you transfer to the heart of your thoughts?i asked again am i still connected?
01: Ayurveda in Travancore Kingdom
If you expect stories which starts: Once upon a time, there was a princess... stop reading. Her Highness Princess Gouri Parvathi Bayi of the Travancore Royal Family will introduce us very modern and open minded view on today's Kerala society and ayurveda.
Stories of communities about origin, spread and apocalypse being presented through episodic memories, narrative and visual texts, travel writings, murals, divine objects, church paintings, and songs provide a dense and myriad repository of historical and artistic imagination.
