Shaam

Shamshuddin Ibrahim (born 4 April 1977), known professionally as Shaam, is an Indian actor and model who mainly appears Tamil and Telugu-language films.

Shamshuddin Ibrahim was born on 4 April 1977 in Madurai, Tamil Nadu, into a Tamil Muslim Rowther family.

His father hails from Madurai, while his mother is from Tiruppathur.

He grew up in Bengaluru, where he pursued his studies.

After completing his B Com, he did modelling through which he hoped to become an actor.

Shaam began his career as a model in Bengaluru, modelling for various ads.

Keen on pursuing an acting career, he was vainly searching for acting offers for four years.

The film which was a blatant rip-off of Sliding Doors, which itself had numerous comparisons with director Krzysztof Kieślowski's 1982 Polish film Blind Chance, fetched rave reviews and was seen as a "dream entry" for Shaam, whose performance was praised as "apt".

He auditioned for the lead role in Kadhalar Dhinam (1999), but did not receive the role.

He then, following the recommendation of his model coordinator Biju Jayadevan, got to meet cinematographer Jeeva, who was planning to make his directorial debut and was on the lookout for a new face for the film's lead role.

He was given the role for the film 12B.

He recollects that during his first meeting with Jeeva, he handed over his portfolio and introduced himself in English, when Jeeva heard him out, and then said, "Repeat what you just said, in Tamil" and Shaam did, and was subsequently signed on the next day after a meeting with producer Vikram Singh.

The promos of the film were critically praised with Shaam signing on to appear on several projects before 12B even released.

Starting his career as a professional model, he soon made his acting debut in the film 12B (2001).

His second feature film, however, the S. J. Suryah-directed Kushi, in which he appeared in a cameo role, released first, since 12B got stuck in production and released in 2001 only.

Shaam was set to work with K. Balachander after Paarthale Paravasam (2001), but the project never materialised.

His subsequent releases including Vasanth's Yai! Nee Romba Azhaga Irukey! (2002), Anbe Anbe (2003) and Priyadarshan's Lesa Lesa (2003), garnered only average or poor box office returns.

He took a break from his romantic hero films with Bala (2002) but the failure of the film caused him to stick to romantic films.

He was approached to play the third male lead role in Aaytha Ezhuthu, but was unable to sign the film because of date issues with Iyarkai.

He further appeared in lead roles in films such as Lesa Lesa (2003), Iyarkai (2003), and Ullam Ketkumae (2005).

Iyarkai by debutant S. P. Jananathan was his final release of 2003 and also failed at the box office due to a delayed release, but opened to high critical acclaim, even winning the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil.

Ullam Ketkumae, directed by Jeeva, finally was a commercial success.

It is Shaam's first successful film and a critic noted that "he is able to bring out the sensibilities of the character".

ABCD, a romance film released in August 2005.

In 2006, he acted in love story, Manathodu Mazhaikalam, which released to negative reviews.

He made his Kannada debut in the film Tananam Tananam playing the role of a blind man.

In 2007, post the death of Jeeva, Shaam struggled to succeed in the Tamil film industry.

In 2008, he appeared in the film, Thoondil directed by K. S. Adhiyaman.

The next is Inba alongside Sneha in which he played a macho man.

These films had no impact at the box office.

He garnered acclaim for his role in the Telugu film Kick (2009), which earned him the name Kick Shaam.

Following several more unsuccessful films, he got a major break in Surender Reddy's Telugu action film Kick (2009) as a police officer.

The success of Kick caused his previous films to release in Telugu: Inba was released in Telugu as Neelo Naalo (2009) with a comedy track featuring Sunil and Agam Puram was dubbed in Telugu as Gang War in 2011.

He was cast in the film after Surender Reddy saw his stills from Agam Puram (2010).

He reprised his role from Kick in the Tamil remake, titled Thillalangadi (2010).

He went on to play similar roles in Veera (2011) and Race Gurram (2014).

Shaam signed his second Telugu film, a biopic Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

However, due to the crisis in Andhra Pradesh at the time, the film failed to materialize.

After a hiatus, he returned to Tamil cinema with 6 (2013), Purampokku Engira Podhuvudamai (2015) and Varisu (2023).

Kick enabled Shaam to star in other prominent Telugu films such as Race Gurram (2014).