Fathima Babu is a South Indian actress, former newsreader and socialite based out of Chennai who hails from

Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to: * Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India ** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry ** Puducherry t ...

. Born in a Muslim family, Fathima began her public career as a newsreader for more than 25 years with

DD Podhigai DD Podhigai is Doordarshan's Tamil language channel. It is broadcast both terrestrially and via satellite. History Doordarshan Kendra Chennai's (''சென்னை தொலைக்காட்சி நிலையம்'') Regional sate ...

, the Tamil version of Doordarshan news, and later worked for

Jaya TV Jaya TV HD is a Tamil language satellite television channel based in Chennai, India. Jaya TV HD is also broadcast to the expatriate Tamil community via various media partnerships. Hemant Sahai of HSA had Jaya TV HD as his first client. Jaya TV ...

. She later converted to Hinduism for her husband. She subsequently moved on to work in television serials, films and theatre performances, operating in the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

and

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

languages.

Career

Fathima became a newsreader with

, the Tamil version of Doordarshan, in the late 1980s. In 1989, she briefly went missing causing much speculation as to her disappearance. Several years later, Fathima clarified that during the period she was missing, she was filming for a television serial known as ''Chithirapaavai'' and did not want to breach Doordarshan's rule of news anchors not being able to work in serials. Fathima made her film debut through

K. Balachander Kailasam Balachander (9 July 1930 – 23 December 2014) was an Indian film maker and playwright who worked mainly in the Tamil cinema. He was well known for his distinct film-making style, and the Indian film industry knew him as a master of un ...

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

film ''

Kalki Kalki ( sa, कल्कि), also called Kalkin or Karki, is the prophesied tenth and final incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu. He is described to appear in order to end the Kali Yuga, one of the four periods in the endless cycle of exist ...

'' (1996), where she starred alongside an ensemble cast of Shruti, Rahman,

Prakash Raj Prakash Raj (born Prakash Rai; 26 March 1965) is an Indian actor, film director, producer, television presenter, and politician. Known for his works in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi, and Malayalam-language films, he is the recipient of several ...

, Geetha, and

Renuka Renuka, also known as Yellamma, is a Hindu goddess worshipped predominantly in the South Indian states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and western state of Maharashtra. She is also known as the mother of Parashurama ...

. The film garnered positive reviews, with a film critic noting that Fathima "has an impressive debut, performing with confidence". Fathima moved on to play supporting roles in films, often portraying the mother of the lead characters. Fathima started her own drama production group, Fab's Theatre, which performs shows in Chennai. She was initially introduced to theatre by K. Balachander, who often helped her work on and develop scripts. The group has made shows such as ''Sethu Vandirikkaen'' and ''Thaarama Tallyaa'' directed by Fathima, which opened in February 2016. She was also briefly involved in politics, and campaigned for the

AIADMK The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian Regionalism (politics), regional political party with great influence in the Federated state, state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry (union territory) ...

on behalf of

Jayalalithaa Jayaram Jayalalithaa (24 February 1948 – 5 December 2016) was an Indian politician and actress who served as Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu for more than fourteen years over six terms between 1991 and 2016. From 9 February 1989 to 5 December 2 ...

, and eventually took up a role as a spokesperson of the party. After Jayalalithaa's death, Fathima joined O. Paneerselvam's team, before ultimately distancing herself from politics. In 2019, she appeared in the reality television show ''

Bigg Boss Tamil 3 ''Bigg Boss 3'' was the third season of the reality TV game show ''Bigg Boss'', which commenced on 23 June 2019 with 17 contestants (15 first-day entrants, 2 wildcard entrants, and 1 re–entrant). Kamal Haasan returned as host for the show thir ...

'' on

Star Vijay Star Vijay is an Indian Tamil language general entertainment pay television channel owned by Disney Star (formerly Star India), a subsidiary of Asianet Star Communications. The channel's headquarters is in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. Star Vijay change ...

, and was the first contestant to be evicted.

Films

Tamil

Malayalam

Telugu

Dramas

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Babu, Fathima Living people Indian film actresses Indian Tamil people Actresses in Tamil cinema Actresses in Malayalam cinema 20th-century Indian actresses 21st-century Indian actresses People from Madurai district Actresses from Tamil Nadu Bigg Boss (Tamil TV series) contestants Actresses in Malayalam television Actresses in Tamil television Actresses in Telugu television Actresses in Telugu cinema Year of birth missing (living people)