READY TO KIYAO AGAIN - BABU ANTONY

Ready to kiyao again
Actor Babu Antony has exploited his unique status as Malayalam film industry’s only martial arts exponent to the hilt but his career is at a low and he is on a comeback path with Highway Police, writes KK Moidu
Malayalam cinema has just one leading man who is well-versed in martial arts, Babu Antony. His expertise with the kicks and punches has seen him act in over 150 movies — Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Telugu and Kannada. Bollywood knows this six-foot plus actor as Bob Antony.
But even after several years in the industry Malayalam cinema has been Babu Antony’s mainstay because of the near monopoly that he enjoys on his home turf. Other language films have many leading men, who are also martial arts exponents capable of delivering racy fight scenes, a reason why Babu has not been able to garner the same kind of fan following in other languages.
Since most leading actors in the industry are not proficient in enacting fast action scenes, Babu Antony became something of a novelty. The actor holds a fifth degree black belt in Karate, which was his greatest asset. Babu Antony utilised this factor to his benefit and made a couple of box office hits in the early 90’s.
Even as a boy, Babu Antony was very different from his older brothers. He was more adventure-oriented and preferred climbing trees, swimming etc to other activities.
Even though his native place abounded in rubber plantations the family had huge trees in its compound. The young school-going Babu practised his risky activities on these huge trees, an indication of what he would do in future as an adult.
The actor earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English literature and a master’s in Human Resources Management from the University of Pune. He was also captain of the university volleyball and athletic teams.
Soon he embarked on journey through the celluloid world by first working with late renowned director Bharathan, in his movie Chilambu. Babu played the villian in this movie. He soon conquered the hearts of youngsters with his action sequences and stunts. Movies like Bharanakoodam, Gandhari, Chantha, Dada, The Street, Kadal, Kambolam, Boxer, Nadody, Special Squad, Attahasam increased his popularity.
He built a huge fan following among the frontbenchers. Babu’s movies, Vaishali, directed by Bharathan and scripted by well-known writer MT Vasudevan Nair and Sayahnam were recently shown in the film festival to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Malayalam films.
In Vaisali, he played the role of a king, whose kingdom is affected by severe draught. The movie Sayahnam, saw him play the role of a pauper who disobeyed all religious laws. Another feather in this actor’s cap was his role in the movie, Aparahnam. The word “aparahnam” basically refers to that time between afternoon and evening, considered the most undefinable part of the day. The actor portrayed the role of an ex-terrorist who finds it difficult to re-adjust with the society. Aprahnam and Sayahnam were directed by MP Sukumaran Nair, an assistant of famous director Adoor Gopalakrishnan.
At present, the actor has lost touch with the Malayalam film industry, as he lived for several years in the United States as an expatriate. Moreover, his reported affair with actress Charmila, made him an outcast in the local film industry.
Babu Antony did try hard to make a comeback but had to be content with villainous roles. Mafia, Poovinu Puthiya Poonthennal and Carnival saw him convincingly portray characters with a negative shade. Even though the viewers rooted for this actor, the directors were wary to offer him lead roles. But the actor has the confidence that he can once again prove his calibre as the leading man.
Babu Antony hopes his latest movie, Highway Police, would be able to boost his sagging career. This debut venture by director Prasad, has a theme which had become common in the 70’s as its secret formula. As an action hero, Babu Antony is sure to excel in this film and this could become a major contributor to the film’s success.
The actor plays a lorry driver, Mammad, in Highway Police. His father is murdered by the mafia gang and his sole mission in life, is to avenge his father’s death. If this movie becomes a success, it will be a second comeback for this actor.
The movie Highway Police, as said earlier, is a tribute to the 70’s era. Now-a-days, it is common to hear heroes spouting liberal doses of English mingled with Malayalam dialogues. But most movies in the 70’s had late veteran actor Prem Nazir as a police or customs officer and Jose Prakash as a smuggler using limited English words like “Get Out”, “Well Done My Boy” “By the By” etc. This movie will have the old style of dialogues like the hero himself telling the villain “you are under arrest,” to add spice. Highway Police will also see the return of car chases, street fights, night club dances and heroes avenging their father’s death at the hands of underworld dons.
The movie’s plot tries to delve into the roots of smuggling business based in Cochin Port and Nedumbassery Airport, run with the help of corrupt authorities. Both Babu Antony and actor Riyaz Khan are doing equally important roles in the movie. This is for the first time Riyaz Khan will be seen in an hero’s role.
The plot of Highway Police is complicated and many characters appear and disappear at will. The story is as follows. Two young men Mammad (Babu Antony) and Circle Inspector Jayachandran (Riyaz Khan) are forced to swallow their anger at not being able to hunt down their fathers’ killers.
The cop’s father was an scrupulously honest customs officer, who was killed by smugglers. The culprits go scotfree. Jayachandran joins the police force to track down his father’s killers.
Khan Bhai, an underworld don who is behind the nefarious activities in Cochin, was responsible for the two murders. The Bhai mainly uses the highways for his illegal activities. CI Jayachandran is assigned the task of patrolling these highways. He sees his new posting as a golden opportunity to hunt down his father’s killers. When he begins his clean-up the villains go after him.
A club dancer Ranjini (Indraja) helps the heroes in their mission because her husband, Danny (Prakash Paul) too was murdered by Bhai’s goons. Actually Danny used to work for the don and Rajini, who belongs to a well-to-do family, falls in love with him without checking his background. After their marriage, Khan Bhai forces Rajini to dance in his club, when the couple refuse to relent, Danny is bumped off.
Mammad rescues the distressed widow from Khan Bhai’s clutches and gives her shelter. When Jayachandran investigates Ranjini’s antecedents the two friends fight bitterly but again join hands after the misunderstanding is cleared. In the climax Khan Bhai’s evil empire crumbles under their combined might.
Other artistes in the movie are Devan, Rajan P. Dev, Riza Bawa, Spadikam George, Baburaj, Jagathy, Janardhanan, Captain Raju, Bheeman Raghu, Jagannatha Varma, Mohan Raj, Paravoor Bharathan, Anju Aravind, Suja, Sruthi and Prakash Paul, well-known for his title role in the Asianet TV serial Kadamattathu Kathanar.
The cinematography is by Marimuthu, who is an expert at shooting action scenes. Dalapathi Dinesh is the stunt director of this movie. The score for the movie is by Sreekumaran Thampi and MK Arjunan. This team has come together after a hiatus of 25 years.
Highway Police will decide the future of Babu Antony’s film career. If it is a rip-roaring success, it would mean the audience has accepted this lanky actor and wouldn’t mind watching the old style movies with a new formula. Or else, it would mean a final blow to an already sinking career.