Ilham Gasimov was born on 20 August 1977 in Baku. He studied at School No. 261, where he already staged short sketches and performed. After finishing school he enrolled at Azerbaijan Technical University. Continuing to show interest in the arts during his university years, he performed with Azerbaijan State University of Economics' KVN team ('Biz Biznesdenik'), with which he became Azerbaijan champion in 1994 and 1995. He continued his artistic career with the 'Baku Boys' comedy sketch team, first as an actor and later as screenwriter and director. In May 1994, while still young, he appeared as Aliabbas in the film 'Dream'. He directed Ilhama Guliyeva's music video 'Don't Hurt My Heart'. As a presenter, he appeared on ABA TV in the programmes 'Love Triangle', 'Music Ball' and 'The Ladder'. He later hosted the programmes 'Pyramid', 'Bell of Victory' and 'Auction' on Space television. From 2001 to 2006 he was a member of the 'Planeta Parni iz Baku' KVN theatre. He played the character Ruslan (Rusik) in the films 'Neighbourhood 1' and 'Neighbourhood 2'. He has been the author and director of many popular programmes. He now heads a company producing advertising shoots and commercial films, while also working as a screenwriter, director and producer. In 2015 the film comedy 'The Groom's House', which he co-directed with Tural Sevdimali and DJ Fateh, was released in cinemas. In 2016 the sequel, 'The Groom's House 2', was released. In 2017 the Iranian-Azerbaijani co-production comedy 'Tyson', directed by Babak Shirinsefat and produced by Ilham Gasimov as executive producer, was released. On 2 May 2025 Ilham Gasimov was appointed a member of the Supervisory Board of the Film Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan.
