Salim Kumar: the ultimate meme king

Salim Kumar may not be a superstar in the film industry. But as far as social media was concerned, the suave actor — or rather, his many characters in flop movies — was blockbuster material. So much so that there seems to be a Salim Kumar sticker or meme to suit almost every occasion and moment, often satirically charged.

He was literally the uncrowned king of social media memes.

After winning the National Award in 2011, the friendly actor was away from the big screen for three years due to his poor health. Yet he remained alive in the public’s memory, thanks in large part to memes that made liberal use of his image and witty dialogue that gave them a sharply satirical flair.

“Malayali audiences only need three weeks to forget an actor and I was away from the scenes for three years. You kept my existence alive and helped me make a successful comeback to the film industry,” he told the youngsters behind the popular Facebook page. International Chalu Union (ICU) during his return.

He marveled at how many of his long-forgotten dialogues had reached epic proportions in memes through clever contextualization. “It’s like those dialogues were written for those memes,” he said.

Characters like Manavalan Pulival Kalyanamin pyari kalyanaramanKannan Sranku Mayavimentally disabled character CID Moosadance master Vikram Chathikkatha ChanthuDefend Mukundan Unni Meesha Madhavan, Koshy Ee Parakkum Thalikaand Chandran is inside kunjikoonan were among those who found enduring popularity in meme culture. Interestingly, even characters from flop movies brought back memories of long-forgotten movies. One Man Show and Kamalasanan Venicile Vyapari.

Salim Kumar’s off-screen persona and laid-back approach to life have probably made him a favorite among meme creators. He often joked that he had been “killed” more than 15 times, citing fake news of his death.

During one such speculative event, this reporter working the night shift called his number and hesitantly asked if Salim Kumar was available. Realizing that it was a shy attempt to check whether he was alive or not, Salim Kumar burst out, “I’m very alive, brother,” and then burst out laughing at his own joke.

This summed up Salim Kumar, a man who could even laugh at rumors of his own death.