Sabumon Abdusamad

Sabu hails from Kayamkulam, Alappuzha.^[2] He holds three graduate degrees, in Malayalam, Journalism and in Law^[3] respectively from University College, Thiruvananthapuram. He initially worked in the sales and operations division of Lufthansa Airlines in Saudi Arabia.^[4] Later, he quit the job to pursue acting.

He is married to Sneha Bhaskaran and has two daughters.^[5]

Sabu initially achieved success through the TV show Tharikida, which focused on pranks on unsuspecting people. Due to the success of the show, people started addressing him as Tharikida Sabu.^[6] Sabu continued to do television shows, and his role as an interviewer in the TV show Midukki was widely appreciated.^[7]

Sabu was the thirteenth contestant in Bigg Boss, a show hosted by Malayalam actor Mohanlal.^[2][8][9] He lasted the entire duration of the 98-day show and went on to win the title, beating competition from Pearle Maaney, Shiyas Kareem, Srinish Aravind and Aristo Suresh in the grand finale in 2018.^[1][10][11] As winner, he was also offered a major role in the Lijo Jose Pellissery directed film Jallikattu, which became India's official entry to the Oscars for 2020.^[12][13]

Sabu owns a production company, SAB Productions.^[14]

In 2021, he was a panelist in the Mazhavil Manorama television channel comedy reality show Oru Chiri Iru Chiri Bumper Chiri, and followed it up in its second season in 2023.^[15][16]

In 2024, he made his Tamil film debut, as villain in the Rajinikanth-starrer Vettaiyan. He was cast after director T. J. Gnanavel saw his performance in Jallikattu.^[17]