Salim Kumar: the ultimate meme king

Salim Kumar may not have been a superstar in the film industry. But when it came to social media, the affable actor — or rather his many characters, even from flop movies — was blockbuster material. So much so that there seems to be a Salim Kumar sticker or meme for almost every situation and moment, often loaded with satire.

He was, quite literally, the uncrowned king of social media memes.

For three years after winning the National Award in 2011, the genial actor had stayed away from the silver screen due to poor health. Yet he remained alive in public memory, thanks largely to memes that liberally drew on his image and witty dialogues, giving them a sharp satirical edge.

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

He marvelled at how many of his dialogues, long forgotten, had assumed epic proportions in memes through clever contextualisation. “It is as if those dialogues were meant for those memes,” he said.

Characters such as Manavalan in Pulival Kalyanam, Pyari in Kalyanaraman, Kannan Sranku in Mayavi, the mentally challenged character in CID Moosa, dance master Vikram in Chathikkatha Chanthu, advocate Mukundan Unni in Meesha Madhavan, Koshy in Ee Parakkum Thalika, and Chandran in Kunjikoonan were among those that found enduring popularity in meme culture. Interestingly, even characters from flop films brought back memories about those long forgotten films, like his roles in One Man Show and Kamalasanan in Venicile Vyapari.

Salim Kumar’s off-screen persona and easy-going approach to life probably made him a favourite with meme creators. He often joked that he had been “killed” more than 15 times citing fake news reports about his demise.

During one such speculative episode, this reporter, on a night duty shift, rang his number and hesitantly asked if Salim Kumar was available. Realising it was a sheepish attempt to check if he was alive, Salim Kumar burst out: “I am very much alive, brother,” followed by booming laughter at his own joke.

That summed up Salim Kumar – a man who could laugh even about his own rumoured death.