Aashiq Abu is an Indian film director, producer, actor, and distributor, who works in Malayalam cinema. Aashiq Abu started as an ad filmmaker. He made his directional debut with Daddy Cool. He is best known for his films Salt N' Pepper, 22 Female Kottayam, Idukki Gold , Mayaanadhi and Virus. Abu is known for his collaboration with screenwriters Syam Pushkaran and Dileesh Nair. Abu produces and distributes under the banner OPM and OPM Dream Mill Cinemas. OPM produced Dileesh Pothan's directional debut Maheshinte Prathikaaram, which won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Malayalam.
After working as an assistant director to Malayalam filmdirectorKamal 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. 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.
On Kerala Piravi day, Kochi Music Foundation 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 to help flood victims. The organisers of this fest included filmmaker Aashiq Abu, singer Shahabaz Aman, and music directorBijibal. However, an RTI document shared on Facebook revealed that the Chief Minister's office was yet to receive the funds, sparking a controversy. Other members of the Kochi Music Foundation also included Aashiq Abu’s wife and actress Rima Kallingal, writer Syam Pushkaran and singer Sithara. 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, 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.
