
Linguswamy, with Mammootty as well in Pammal K. In 2001, he made further supporting appearances in the commercially successful films, Minnale by Gautham Vasudev Menon and Aanandham by N. Abbas then appeared in Rajiv Menon's multi-starrer Kandukondain Kandukondain (2000), in which he was paired with Aishwarya Rai, and the film went on to win positive reviews from critics. He appeared as Rajinikanth's son-in-law in Padayappa (1999), before portraying the role of a doctor in Kamal Haasan's historical film, Hey Ram (2000). įollowing a spell of commercially disappointing Tamil films as the lead actor, Abbas worked on several prestigious films in the early 2000s as a second hero. He also appeared in the youth-centric Kannada film, Shanti Shanti Shanti (1999), featuring alongside debutant Madhavan for the first time. Meanwhile, the success of Kaadhal Desam's dubbed Telugu version, allowed him to make a breakthrough in Telugu films and his next ventures Priya O Priya (1997) and Rajahamsa (1998) were profitable. His busy schedule meant that he missed out on various successful films including Kadhalukku Mariyadhai (1997) and Jeans (1998), and the Tamil films he appeared in such as Jolly (1998) Ini Ellam Sugame (1998), Aasai Thambi (1998) were predominantly box office failures. Featuring alongside Vineeth and Tabu, Kadhal Desam became a critical and commercial success and Abbas was dubbed by the media as a "heart-throb" and garnered several more acting offers. Unfamiliar with the Tamil language, Abbas memorised his lines on the set of the film and Kadhir began the shoot with easier portions, in order to ease Abbas into his role. Kadhir was impressed with Abbas' performance and invited him to a screen test for Kadhal Desam (1996), before eventually signing him on to play a leading role. Initially, after hearing that director Kadhir was looking for a new actor for his latest venture, Abbas had recommended his friends who knew Tamil to audition and took part in a speculative audition at the insistence of his friend. He partook in modelling assignments since his college days won "Face of 94" in Bangalore. His maternal grandfather being an actor Farrukh Mirza acted in Neel Darpan (Bengali) and his paternal family being related to actor Feroz Khan. He made his debut with Kadhir's Kadhal Desam in 1996.Ībbas grew up watching Hindi films. Abbas (born as Abbas Ali) is a former Indian actor and model from Kolkata, who has predominantly appeared in Tamil and Telugu films, and a few films in Malayalam, Hindi and Kannada.
