Vijay Babu is an Indian film producer, actor, and businessman, who works in the

Malayalam film industry Malayalam cinema is an Indian film industry of Malayalam-language motion pictures. It is based in Kochi, Kerala, India. The films produced in Malayalam cinema are known for their cinematography and story-driven plots. In 1982, ''Elippathayam' ...

. He is the founder of the film production company

Friday Film House Friday Film House is an Indian film production company based in Malayalam film industry owned by Vijay Babu who is an actor as well as a producer and is one of the most talked about production houses in the south. Friday Film House has won 7 of ...

. Vijay Babu is best known for producing and starring in the films ''

Philips and the Monkey Pen ''Philips and the Monkey Pen'' is a 2013 Indian Malayalam language children's film written by Rojin Thomas and directed by Rojin Thomas and Shanil Muhammed. The film stars Sanoop Santhosh, Jayasurya, Remya Nambeesan, Vijay Babu and Joy Mathew. ...

'' (2013), ''

Peruchazhi ''Peruchazhi'' () is a 2014 Indian Malayalam-language political satire film written and directed by Arun Vaidyanathan. The dialogues were co-written by Ajayan Venugopalan. Vijay Babu and Sandra Thomas produced the film for Friday Film House. It ...

'' (2014), '' Aadu'' (2015), ''

Adi Kapyare Kootamani ''Adi Kapyare Kootamani'' ( is a 2015 Indian Malayalam comedy horror film co-written and directed by John Varghese and starring Dhyan Sreenivasan, Namitha Pramod, Mukesh, Aju Varghese, Neeraj Madhav, Vineeth Mohan and Bijukuttan. The film was ...

'' (2015), ''

Mudhugauv ''Mudhugauv'' () is a 2016 Malayalam caper-comedy film written and directed by Vipin Das in his directional debut. It is produced by Vijay Babu and Sandra Thomas under the banner, Friday Film House. It marks the acting debut of Gokul Suresh, son ...

'' (2016), ''

Angamaly Diaries ''Angamaly Diaries'' is a 2017 Indian Malayalam-language crime drama film directed by Lijo Jose Pellissery and written by Chemban Vinod Jose. The film features 86 debutant actors, with Antony Varghese, Anna Rajan, Kichu Tellus, Ullas Jose Chemb ...

'' (2017), ''

Aadu 2 ''Aadu 2'' () is a 2017 Indian Malayalam-language slapstick comedy film written and directed by Midhun Manuel Thomas and produced by Vijay Babu under Friday Film House. It is the sequel to the 2015 film '' Aadu'', and Jayasurya, Saiju Kurup, V ...

'' (2017), ''

June June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the second of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the third of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. June contains the summer solstice in ...

'' (2019), ''

Sufiyum Sujatayum ''Sufiyum Sujatayum'' () is a 2020 Indian Malayalam-language romantic drama film written and directed by Naranipuzha Shanavas, and produced by Vijay Babu under his production company Friday Film House. The film stars Jayasurya, Aditi Rao Hydar ...

'' (2021), and ''

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...

'' (2021). In 2014, he won the

Kerala State Film Award for Best Children's Film The Kerala State Film Award The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have bee ...

(as producer) for his production firm for ''Philips and the Monkey Pen''. The character ''Sarbath Shameer'' played by Vijay Babu appearing in ''Aadu'' film series had developed into a cult following. ''

'', produced by him under his banner Friday Film House, is the first Malayalam film to have a direct release on an OTT platform,

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American Video on demand#Subscription models, subscription video on-demand Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Streaming media, streaming and Renting, rental service of Amazon (c ...

. Babu is known for bankrolling many experimental films and supporting upcoming filmmakers in the industry.

Early life and family

Vijay Babu was born in

Kollam Kollam (), also known by its former name Quilon , is an ancient seaport and city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. The city i ...

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

Nair The Nair , also known as Nayar, are a group of Indian Hindu castes, described by anthropologist Kathleen Gough as "not a unitary group but a named category of castes". The Nair include several castes and many subdivisions, not all of whom histor ...

parents Subashchandra Babu and Maya Babu. He has two siblings, Vinay Babu and Vijayalakshmi. Babu did his schooling at St. Jude School, Kollam and received graduation from the

Loyola College, Chennai Loyola College is a private Catholic higher education institution run by the Society of Jesus in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded in 1925 by the French Jesuit priest, Francis Bertram, along with other European Jesuits. It is an auto ...

. He started his media career at

STAR India Disney Star Private Limited is an Indian media conglomerate and a wholly owned subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company India. It is headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. Disney Star network runs more than 70 TV channels in eight languages, reac ...

in Mumbai. In 2002, he was selected as the Best Employee of

STAR TV Star TV may refer to: * E! (Canadian TV channel) (formerly Star!), a Canadian entertainment news channel * Las Estrellas (Spanish for The Stars), the Mexican television network * Estrella TV (Spanish for Star TV), the American Spanish-language net ...

. Later that year, he quit his job to venture as an entrepreneur in

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

. After a few years, he joined as the COO of

Asianet Asianet may refer to: Disney Star channels *Asianet Communications, an Indian media company wholly owned by Disney Star **Asianet (TV channel), a Malayalam language general entertainment channel **Asianet Plus, a Malayalam language general entertai ...

and Sitara TV in

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

. In 2009, Babu returned to Kerala as the Vice President of Surya TV. He is married to Smitha, a Dubai-based employee. The couple has a son named Bharath.

Career

In 2013, Babu quit his media career and joined the Malayalam film industry as an actor and producer. Babu is one of the founders and CEO of Friday Film House founded a Kerala-based film production company along with the actress Sandra Thomas. Friday Film House won seven of the Kerala state film awards in various fields in 2014. Though the company was established after the success of the film ''

Friday Friday is the day of the week between Thursday and Saturday. In countries that adopt the traditional "Sunday-first" convention, it is the sixth day of the week. In countries adopting the ISO-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth day ...

'', the movie is considered the first production venture of Friday Film House. Babu is best known for his roles in ''

'' and ''

Nee-Na ''Nee-Na'' is a 2015 Indian Malayalam-language drama film directed and produced by Lal Jose. The title Nee-Na is an abbreviation of the central characters ''Neena and Nalini'', played by Deepti Sati and Ann Augustine respectively and it also sta ...

'', and as the producer of ''

'', ''

'' and '' Aadu''. His role as Vinay Paniker in ''

'' received appreciation from critics.

Controversy

On 22 April 2022, a newcomer actress from the Malayalam film industry accused Vijay Babu of sexual and physical abuse over the past two months in the guise of friendship and guidance, and subsequently registered a criminal case which is currently being investigated. In response, he left India and is suspected to be in Dubai, with Indian police having issued a

look out circular Look out circular (LOC) is a circular letter used by authorities in India to check whether a traveling person is wanted by the police. It may be used at immigration checks at international borders such as international airports or sea port ...

for him at the airports and planning to search his properties for evidence. In a Facebook Live stream four days later, Babu denied the accusations, claiming to be "the one who is suffering" and stating he would contersue for defamation. While his action received criticism, various men's rights groups came in support of him quoting the one-sided nature of law when it comes to such allegations. Activists like

Rahul Easwar Rahul is a popular male name in India and has a variety of meanings. The earliest meaning found in the Upanishads is "conqueror of all miseries." Later use of the word is attributed to the Buddha, who named his son '' Rahula'' as he felt that fa ...

and Mithun Vijay Kumar announced

MenToo #MenToo is a social movement in India which was started against false sexual harassment allegations in MeToo movement in India. The movement was widely spread out after Bollywood actress Pooja Bedi and Founder of Purush Aayog Barkha Trehan ap ...

movement on various platforms to protect the actor from media trials and demanded a gender-neutral form of justice. Notably, he named his accuser in the video despite knowing it is illegal under Indian law, leading to him additionally being charged under IPC Section 228A for violating the victim's anonymity and criticism from supporters of sexual assault survivors. While the internal complaint commission of the

Association of Malayalam Movie Artists The Association of Malayalam Movie Artists (A.M.M.A) is an Indian organisation of film actors and actresses working in Malayalam cinema, formed in 1994. Governing body The governing body serves for three years. It includes a President, two Vice ...

(AMMA) recommended that Babu be expelled, the organisation ultimately did not do so, instead accepting a letter from him distancing himself from the executive board. In response to this inaction, four members (

Maala Parvathy Parvathi T., also known as Maala Parvathi, is an Indian actress, who appears in Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu films Personal life Parvathi was born in Thiruvananthapuram, to Adv C. V. Thrivikraman and gynaecologist Dr K. Lalitha. She complete ...

, Kukku Parameswaran,

Shweta Menon Shwetha Menon is an Indian actress, model and television anchor. She won '' Femina Miss India Asia Pacific 1994''. She has predominantly acted in Malayalam and Hindi language films, besides appearing in a number of Telugu and Tamil Language Fil ...

and

Hareesh Peradi Hareesh Peradi is an Indian actor who predominantly acts in Malayalam and Tamil films. Career He is also a well-known theatre artist in Kerala, having made a mark in stage and also in TV and cinema. Even though he has acted in 36 films so far ...

) criticized AMMA's stance and left the association.

Filmography

Awards

;

Kerala State Film Awards The Kerala State Film Awards are the film awards for a motion picture made in Kerala. The awards started in 1969 by the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala and since 1998 the awards have been bestowed by Kerala State Cha ...

* 2014 – Best Children's Film for ''

References

External links

Official website of Friday Film House
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Babu, Vijay Living people Male actors from Kollam Male actors in Malayalam cinema Indian male film actors Indian male child actors 20th-century Indian male actors 21st-century Indian male actors Malayalam film producers Businesspeople from Kollam Film producers from Kerala 1976 births