Fathima Babu

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.[5][6]

Fathima made her film debut through K. Balachander's feminist film Kalki (1996),[1] 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".[7] 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.[8][9] 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.[10] 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 eliminated.[11]

A widely gossiped urban folklore in Tamil Nadu was that DMK leader M K Stalin had abducted Fathima Babu, who was a Doordarshan Kendra news reader, when his father M. Karunanidhi was Chief Minister in the late 1980s, as she went missing in 1989. Later, she finally denied such an incident ever took place.[6]

She explained, “In those days, I was acting in a television serial Chithirapaavai. Back then Doordarshan had this policy wherein news readers of its bulletins can”t simultaneously cast news and act in serials. Therefore, I was not reading news”. Further she said, "On days we had night shifts, the Doordarshan would organise a taxi to drop us back home. So there was no scope for this abduction at all."[5]

• Fathima Babu on IMDb