Jeo Baby is an Indian film director, screenwriter and actor who works in

Malayalam films Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Cinema of India, Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam, Malayalam language, primarily spoken in Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands. It encompasses both th ...

. His

family drama In film and television show, television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or docudrama, semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humour, humorous in tone. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional te ...

film ''

The Great Indian Kitchen ''The Great Indian Kitchen'' is a 2021 Indian Malayalam-language comedy-drama film written and directed by Jeo Baby. The film tells the story of a newly-wed woman (Nimisha Sajayan) who struggles to be the submissive wife that her husband (Suraj ...

'' (2021) won the 51st Kerala State Film Award for

Best Film The following is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various films, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Bes ...

and he received the

Kerala State Film Award for Best Screenplay The Kerala State Film Award for Best Screen Play winners: ReferencesOfficial website
{{ ...

Early life

He studied cinema at St. Joseph College of Communication,

Changanacherry Changanassery, () formerly Changanacherry, is a municipality in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. It is located south of the district headquarters in Kottayam and about north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram. As per the 2011 I ...

. During his final year, he directed the 2007 short film ''Secret Minds'' which discussed

same-sex relationship A same-sex relationship is a romantic or sexual relationship between people of the same sex. ''Same-sex marriage'' refers to the institutionalized recognition of such relationships in the form of a marriage; civil unions may exist in countries ...

s. He, along with three other students (the producer and actors), were suspended and later expelled from the college, which alleged the film had "obscene scenes which were capable of misleading young minds" and that they had not gotten permission to shoot it on campus. However, Jeo Baby later stated that the film "did well at international film festivals".

Career

Jeo Baby started his career in the entertainment industry by writing for Television sitcoms in 2010. He was involved in scripting the initial episodes of popular television sitcoms

Marimayam ''Marimayam'' () is an Indian Malayalam-language television sitcom broadcast on Mazhavil Manorama since 5 November 2011. It showcases satirical sketches depicting typical scenarios observed at government institutions and societal trials faced b ...

, 'Uppum Mulakum' and 'M80 Moosa'. He made his directional movie debut through the Malayalam movie '

2 Penkuttikal ''2 Penkuttikal'' (English : ''Two Girls'') is a 2016 Indian Malayalam film directed by Jeo Baby. It stars Anna Fathima and Shambavi in the lead roles with cameo appearances from Amala Paul, Tovino Thomas, and Anju Kurian. Fathima won Kerala S ...

' which was released in 2016. His second movie

Kunju Daivam ''Kunju Daivam'' is an Indian Malayalam film written and directed Jeo Baby, starring Adish Praveen, Joju George, Reina Maria, Sidhartha Siva as lead characters. Kunju Daivam' was last in the news when its lead Adish Praveen won the National Fil ...

was released in 2017. In 2020 he directed ''

Kilometers and Kilometers ''Kilometers and Kilometers'' is an Indian Malayalam cinema, Malayalam-language comedy-drama road movie directed by Jeo Baby. The film is jointly produced by Tovino Thomas, Ramshi Ahamed, Anto Joseph and Sinu Sidharth, under the banner of Anto J ...

'' which has

Tovino Thomas Tovino Thomas (born 21 January 1989) is an Indian actor and film producer who predominantly works in Malayalam cinema, Malayalam films. He made his debut in 2012 with the film ''Prabhuvinte Makkal''. His breakthrough roles were in the films '' ...

playing the lead role. The movie didn't get a theatrical release due to

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

& premiered directly on Malayalam satellite channel

Asianet Asianet may refer to: JioStar channels * JioStar, is an Indian media conglomerate wholly owned by Disney India. ** Asianet, a Malayalam language general entertainment channel ** Asianet Plus, a Malayalam language general entertainment channel ** As ...

followed by an OTT release on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

. His fourth Malayalam film,

, which has

Suraj Venjaramoodu Suraj Vasudevan (born 30 June 1976), professionally credited as Suraj Venjaramoodu, is an Indian actor, comedian, impressionist, and television presenter, who appears in Malayalam films, television and stage plays. He has acted in more than ...

Nimisha Sajayan Nimisha Sajayan is an Indian actress who predominately works in Malayalam films apart from Tamil and Hindi films. Nimisha made her acting debut with the film ''Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum'' directed by Dileesh Pothan. She won the Kerala State ...

playing the lead roles, was directly released on 'NeeStream' OTT platform on 15 January 2021. The movie was later officially released on

Amazon Prime Amazon Prime (styled as prime) is a paid subscription service of Amazon which is available in many countries and gives users access to additional services otherwise unavailable or available at a premium to other Amazon customers. Services inclu ...

. The film was successful, with a Tamil remake being released in 2023 and a Hindi one in the works. Jeo Baby stated that it had given him the confidence to take more risks for his own 2023 film ''

Kaathal – The Core ''Kaathal – The Core'' is a 2023 Indian Malayalam-language courtroom drama film directed by Jeo Baby and written by Adarsh Sukumaran and Paulson Skaria. Produced by Mammootty Kampany, the film stars Mammootty and Jyothika in lead roles. Sudhi ...

''. Starring

Mammootty Muhammad Kutty Panaparambil Ismail (born 7 September 1951), known mononymously by the hypocorism Mammootty (), is an Indian actor and film producer who works predominantly in Malayalam-language films. He has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, ...

(who also financed the film and decided to collaborate with Jeo Baby after watching ''The Great Indian Kitchen'') and

Jyothika Jyothika Saravanan (; born 18 October 1978) is an Indian actress and producer who primarily works in Tamil, Hindi and Telugu films. She has received several accolades including a National Film Award, five Filmfare Awards South, four Tamil N ...

in the lead roles, the film has been praised as a serious and sensitive drama about a panchayat candidate navigating societal reactions and his relationships after his wife outs him as gay to end their loveless marriage.

Short film

Television

Sitcoms

Filmography

As director and screenwriter

As actor

This is a list of films that he only worked as an actor. ;As presenter *'' Kaadhal Enbadhu Podhu Udamai'' (2025; Tamil)

References

External links

* * {{authority control Living people Film directors from Kottayam district Malayalam film directors Malayalam screenwriters Screenwriters from Kerala Year of birth missing (living people) IIFA Utsavam winners Kerala State Film Award winners