Vijay Babu (actor, Born 1976)
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Vijay Babu is an Indian film producer, actor, and businessman, who works in the
Malayalam film industry Malayalam cinema, also referred to as Mollywood, is a segment of Indian cinema dedicated to producing films in the Malayalam language, primarily spoken in Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands. It encompasses both the mainstream film industry a ...
. He is the founder of the film production company
Friday Film House Friday Film House Pvt Ltd is an Indian film production company based in Malayalam film industry owned by Vijay Babu (actor, born 1976), Vijay Babu who is an actor as well as a producer and is one of the most talked about production houses in th ...
. Vijay Babu is best known for producing and starring in the films '' Philips and the Monkey Pen'' (2013), '' Peruchazhi'' (2014), '' Aadu'' (2015), '' Adi Kapyare Kootamani'' (2015), '' Mudhugauv'' (2016), '' Angamaly Diaries'' (2017), '' Aadu 2'' (2017), ''
June June is the sixth and current month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars—the latter the most widely used calendar in the world. Its length is 30 days. June succeeds May and precedes July. This month marks the start of su ...
'' (2019), ''
Sufiyum Sujatayum ''Sufiyum Sujatayum'' () is a 2020 Indian Malayalam-language romantic drama film. It is written and directed by Naranipuzha Shanavas, and produced by Vijay Babu under his production company Friday Film House. It stars Jayasurya in the lead rol ...
'' (2021), and ''
Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...
'' (2021). In 2014, he won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Children's Film (as producer) for ''Philips and the Monkey Pen''. In 2023, He received the
National Film Award for Best Feature Film The National Film Award for Best Feature Film is one of the categories in the National Film Awards presented annually by the National Film Development Corporation of India, the organisation set up by Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in I ...
in Malayalam for ''Home'' (2021). The character ''Sarbath Shameer'' played by Vijay Babu in ''Aadu'' film series had developed into a cult following. ''
Sufiyum Sujatayum ''Sufiyum Sujatayum'' () is a 2020 Indian Malayalam-language romantic drama film. It is written and directed by Naranipuzha Shanavas, and produced by Vijay Babu under his production company Friday Film House. It stars Jayasurya in the lead rol ...
'', produced by him under his banner Friday Film House, is the first Malayalam film to have a direct release on an
OTT platform An over-the-top media service (also known as over-the-top television, or simply OTT) is a digital distribution service of video and audio delivered directly to viewers via the public Internet, rather than through an over-the-air, cable, satell ...
,
Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming television service owned by Amazon. The service primarily distributes films and television series produced or co-produced by ...
. 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 (;), is an ancient seaport and the List of cities and towns in Kerala, fourth largest city in the Indian state of Kerala. Located on the southern tip of the Malabar Coast of the Arabian Sea, the city is on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake ...
,
Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...
, to
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 hi ...
parents Subashchandra Babu and Maya Babu. He has two siblings, Vinay Babu and Vijayalakshmi. He studied at St. Jude School, Kollam, and received graduation from
Loyola College, Chennai Loyola College is a government aided private Catholic higher education institution run by the Society of Jesus in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It was founded in 1925 by the France, French Jesuits, Jesuit priest, Francis Bertram, along with other ...
. Babu started his media career at
STAR India Disney Star (also known as JioStar), registered as JioStar India Private Limited, is an Indian media conglomerate joint venture owned with a share of 16.34% by Reliance Industries, 46.82% by Viacom18 and 36.84% by Disney India. On 14 Nove ...
in Mumbai. In 2002, he was selected as the Best Employee of STAR TV. Later that year, he quit his job to venture as an entrepreneur in
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
. After a few years, he joined as the COO of
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 ...
and Sitara TV in
Hyderabad Hyderabad is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part of Southern India. With an average altitude of , much ...
. In 2009, Babu returned to Kerala as the vice president of
Surya TV Surya TV is an Indian Malayalam language Indian general entertainment pay television channel owned by Sun TV Network. which is headquartered at Kochi. Surya TV HD became the third Malayalam language high-definition channel. Current broadcas ...
. Babu is married to Smitha, a
Dubai Dubai (Help:IPA/English, /duːˈbaɪ/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''doo-BYE''; Modern Standard Arabic, Modern Standard Arabic: ; Emirati Arabic, Emirati Arabic: , Romanization of Arabic, romanized: Help:IPA/English, /diˈbej/) is the Lis ...
-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 8601-defined "Monday-first" convention, it is the fifth ...
'', the movie is considered the first production venture of Friday Film House. Babu is best known for his roles in '' Philips and the Monkey Pen'' and '' Nee-Na'', and as the producer of '' Philips and the Monkey Pen'', '' Peruchazhi'' and '' Aadu''. His role as Vinay Paniker in '' Nee-Na'' 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 A p ...
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 countersue 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 and Mithun Vijay Kumar announced MenToo 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, abbreviated as AMMA, is an Indian organization of film actors and actresses working in the Malayalam cinema, formed in 1994. Governing body The governing body serves for three years. It includes a Pre ...
(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, Kukku Parameswaran,
Shweta Menon Shwetha Menon (born 23 April 1974) is an Indian actress, model, television anchor and beauty pageant titleholder. She has won '' Femina Miss India Asia Pacific 1994''. She has predominantly acted in Malayalam and Hindi language films, besides ap ...
and
Hareesh Peradi Hareesh Peradi is an Indian actor who acts predominantly in Malayalam and Tamil films. Career Hareesh Peradi is also a 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 ...
) 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 '' Philips and the Monkey Pen''
National Film Award The National Film Awards are awards for artistic and technical merit given for "Excellence within the Cinema of India, Indian film industry". Established in 1954, it has been administered, along with the International Film Festival of India ...
* 2021 – Best Malayalam Film Award for #Home


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