Acting
Director Lal Jose noticed Kallingal on a magazine cover and approached her for a goat herder role in the Tamil film Mazhai Varappoguthu. The project did not go ahead, but director Shyamaprasad subsequently cast her in the lead female role of Varsha in Ritu (2009), which marked her acting debut.[1][4] In 2009 she also appeared in the anthology film Kerala Cafe, in the segment Mrityunjayam, and in Neelathaamara directed by Lal Jose.
In 2012, Kallingal was cast opposite Fahadh Faasil in 22 Female Kottayam, directed by Aashiq Abu, playing a nurse and rape survivor seeking justice. The film performed well commercially[5] and won Kallingal the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actress and the Filmfare Award for Best Actress – Malayalam.[6] The film also drew praise from critics; Sify wrote that Kallingal delivered "a spectacular performance" and that she "poured her heart into her character".[7]
In 2013, she hosted the Mazhavil Manorama reality show Midukki, following which the Kerala Film Chamber imposed a temporary ban on her, which was subsequently revoked.[8] That same year she played a housewife in August Club. Paresh C. Palicha of Rediff.com noted that Kallingal portrayed a character "who has learnt to stifle her feelings and finding other ways to give them an outlet".[9]
In 2015 she appeared alongside Manju Warrier in Rani Padmini, playing a disruptive North Indian woman on a road trip from Kerala to Shimla. The film was a commercial success[10] and critic Deepa Soman described her performance as a "knockout".[11]
In Virus (2019), directed by Aashiq Abu, Kallingal played nurse Akhila, a character based on Lini Puthussery — the nurse who died treating Kerala's first patient in the 2018 Nipah virus outbreak.[12] Lini Puthussery's husband, who attended a screening of the film, said that Kallingal's portrayal was faithful and delivered "a flawless performance as Lini".[13] Kallingal co-produced the film with Aashiq Abu under their production banner OPM Cinemas.[14] Sowmya Rajendran described her performance as "expressive".[15]
In the 2021 film Santhoshathinte Onnam Rahasyam, directed by Don Palathara, Kallingal played an entertainment journalist opposite Jitin Puthenchery. Baradwaj Rangan described her performance as "terrific".[16] The film won her Best Actress at the Diorama International Film Festival.[17]
In 2023 she appeared in Neelavelicham, a horror drama co-produced with Aashiq Abu.[18]
In 2025, Kallingal starred in Theatre, written and directed by Sajin Baabu, playing Meera, a woman who has lived an isolated life on a coastal Kerala island alongside her elderly mother. The film explores the conflict between traditional belief and modern science. The film had its world premiere at the Eurasian Bridge International Film Festival in Yalta on 9 October 2025, before its theatrical release on 16 October 2025.[19] The role was physically demanding; director Sajin Baabu noted that Kallingal spent several hours atop a coconut tree for a single scene and completed multiple retakes despite sustaining bruises.[20] The film won Kallingal a joint Kerala Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress, shared with Nazriya Nazim.[21]
Dance
Alongside her screen career, Kallingal has maintained an active presence as a performer and choreographer. In 2014 she established Mamangam, a dance studio in Kochi, which closed in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[22] She subsequently reconstituted it as Mamangam Dance Company, which continues to produce and tour contemporary dance work.
In November 2023, Mamangam Dance Company presented its debut full-length contemporary dance production, Neythe — Dance of the Weaves, at the Fine Arts Society Hall, Kochi. The 35-minute work paid tribute to the handloom weavers of Chendamangalam and was inspired by the displacement of livelihoods after the 2018 Kerala floods. The production was staged at the International Theatre Festival of Kerala in Thrissur in March 2025.[23]
Kallingal also created Nayika, a one-hour dance production tracing a century of women in Malayalam cinema, beginning with a tribute to P. K. Rosy, the industry's first actress.[24]
