Director Babu Narayanan, who was part of the Anil-Babu duo that made several box office hits, died at the age of 59 at Thrissur on Saturday. He had been ailing for a while.
Before pairing up, Babu and Anil had made films separately but had not tasted much success. But together, they directed several successful films in the 1990s.
Movies such as Sthreedhanam , Kudumba Vishesham , Welcome to Kodaikanal , Aramanaveedum Anjoorekkarum and Pattabhishekam established themselves as a force to reckon with in the mainstream cinema. The duo split up in 2004 after Parayam .
They had come together in 1992, and with films such as Ponnaramthottathe Rajavu , Manthrikacheppu and Welcome to Kodaikanal they could make an impact pretty soon . Before that, Babu, on his own, had directed Anagha and Ponnaranjanam .
His debut feature film Anagha had Parvathy playing the lead. The highlight of the film was its music, composed by Kozhikode Yesudas. Its two songs, Paaduvanaayi vannu njaan... and Angakale kizhakkan dikkil... , both rendered by K.J. Yesudas, had become popular.
Interesting stories
The film, though, did not make a mark. But things changed after he started to work with Anil.
Many of their films, such as Ponnaramthottathe Rajavu , which saw Jagadeesh grow into a solo hero from comedian, Sthreedhanam and Kudumba Vishesham were lapped up by the family audiences.
Those films told interesting stories that appealed to the mainstream audience.
“The Anil-Babu duo certainly played a significant role in my career; they helped me evolve as a hero,” Jagadeesh told The Hindu . “They were excellent as a team and I was disappointed when they split. We could see that they could not get as much success when Babu and Anil worked separately, Jagadeesh said.”
A fine coordinator
He added that the pair complemented each other so well. “Babu was a fine coordinator too,” Jagadeesh recalled. “Many of their films succeeded financially as they could come up with good work within reasonable budget.”
After their split following Parayam , Babu had a fairly long interval in his career as a director.
His next film, To Noora with Love, would come after nearly a decade. The film, though, failed. It would prove to be his last.
