Fathima Babu

Fathima was born in a Malayali family based in Puducherry.^[2] She has a degree in commerce. Initially a Muslim, Fathima converted to Hinduism after marrying Babu, who she had met while working at Indian Oil Corporation.^[4] The couple, married since 1989, has two sons.^[5][6]

Fathima became a newsreader with DD Podhigai, 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.^[7]

Fathima made her film debut through K. Balachander's feminist film Kalki (1996),^[2] where she starred alongside an ensemble cast of Shruti, Rahman, Prakash Raj, Geetha, and Renuka. The film garnered positive reviews, with a film critic noting that Fathima "has an impressive debut, performing with confidence".^[8] Fathima moved on to play supporting roles in films, often portraying the mother of the lead characters.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[9][10] She was also briefly involved in politics, and campaigned for the AIADMK on behalf of Jayalalithaa, and eventually took up a role as a spokesperson of the party.^[11] 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 on Star Vijay, and was the first contestant to be evicted.^[12]

Tamil

More information Year, Film ...

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1996	Kalki	Kokila
1997	Pasamulla Pandiyare
	V. I. P.	Priya's mother
	Nerukku Ner	Alamu
1998	Ulavuthurai	Sangeetha's mother
	Swarnamukhi	Vanaja
	Thulli Thirintha Kaalam	Visalam
	Sollamale	Vikram's mother
	Unnidathil Ennai Koduthen	Vasanthi, Radha's stepmother's younger sister
	Simmarasi	Maragatham's wife
	Kannathal	Kannatha's mother
	Kalyana Galatta	Commissioner's wife
1999	Ninaivirukkum Varai	Sandhya's mother
	Nee Varuvai Ena	Subramani's mother
	Mugam
	Mudhalvan	Aranganathar's wife
	Unnaruge Naan Irundhal	Jamindar's wife
	Ponnu Veetukkaran	Gangadaran's wife
2000	Mugavaree	Viji's mother
	Unnai Kodu Ennai Tharuven	Indu's mother
	Simmasanam	Annapoorani's sister-in-law
	Parthen Rasithen	Pinky Raja
	Ilaiyavan
	Anbudan	Sathya's mother
	Ninaivellam Nee	Nurse
2001	Minnale	Shanti, Reena's mother
	Paarvai Ondre Podhume	Visalakshi
	Little John	Nirmala
	Manadhai Thirudivittai	Shruti's mother
	Aalavandhan	Tejaswini's mother
	Love Marriage	Shreekanth's mother
2002	Alli Arjuna	Usha
	Youth	Sandhya's mother
2003	Manasellam	Bala's mother
	Lesa Lesa	Varalakshmi
	Aahaa Ethanai Azhagu
	Thithikudhe	Venu's adopted mother
	Thathi Thavadhu Manasu
	Indru	Gauthaman's mother
2004	Kavithai
2005	Thirupaachi	Raj's wife
	Kannadi Pookal
	Devathaiyai Kanden	Uma's mother
	Amudhey	Nancy's mother
2005	Thirudiya Idhayathai
2006	Thirupathi	Minister's wife
2007	Adavadi
	En Uyirinum Melana	Kamakshi
	18 Vayasu Puyale	Seetha
2008	Kuselan	Sister Maria	Simultaneously shot in Telugu as Kathanayakudu
	Saroja	Car passenger	Special appearance
	Vasool	Angayarkanni
	Thithikkum Ilamai	Defense lawyer
2011	Sabash Sariyana Potti	"Sabash Sariyana Potti" judge
	Kasethan Kadavulada
	Kaila Kaasu Vaaila Thosa
2012	Thiruthani	Andiyappan's wife
2013	Puthagam	Veni
	Naanum En Jamunavum
	Thirumathi Thamizh
	Chithirayil Nilachoru	Church mother
	Maayai
2014	Azhagiya Pandipuram	Madhavan's mother
	Nee Naan Nizhal	Rohit's mother
	Namma Gramam	Karthyayani
2015	Muthukumar Wanted	Anandhi's mother
2016	Jennifer Karuppaiya	Court Judge
2020	Vidhipadi	Jennifer's mother	Short film
2025	Mrs & Mr	Ranganayaki

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Malayalam

More information Year, Film ...

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2001	Raavanaprabhu	Mundakkal Sekharan's wife
2002	Onnaman	Deepa
2007	Ali Bhai	Ambu Bhai's wife
	Hallo	Shivaraman's mother
2008	Madampi	Shyamala's mother
2009	My Big Father	Alby's mother
	Bhramaram	Sivankutty's sister
2010	Oru Naal Varum	School Principal
	Alexander the Great	Sumithra
	Shikkar	Manu's mother
2011	Kottarathil Kutty Bhootham
	Traffic	Raihan's mother
2012	The King & the Commissioner	Justice Eliyamma Pettikaran
	Josettante Hero	Sajan's mother
	Grandmaster	Alice
	Gramam	Karthyayani	Simultaneously shot in Tamil as Namma Gramam
	Matinee	Fathima
2014	@Andheri	Appu's mother
	1 by Two	Ammukkuty Amma
	Asha Black	Rohit's mother	Simultaneously shot in Tamil as Nee Naan Nizhal

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Telugu

More information Year, Film ...

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2005	Gowtam SSC	Chaya Rani (Gowtam's Mother)
2008	Kadhanayakudu	Sister Maria

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