Last year, Baburaj had gone for an awards function in Dubai. He was being felicitated for his role as a cook in Salt N Pepper. A couple came up to him with their two-year-old daughter. As soon as the child saw Baburaj, she said, Two Radhas, and jumped into his arms. This was one of Baburajs dialogues in the film, when he goes to a shop, and asks for two pieces of Radhas ayurvedic soap. The parents told Baburaj, Before saying Acchan and Amma, she said this.
In Chembumukku, a suburb of Kochi, Baburaj had arrived for the shooting of the film, Idiots. As soon as the news spread, several children ran up to greet him. Some even hung from his muscular arms. Children are my biggest fans now, he says.
But this is a far cry from his 16-year-long career as a goonda, an assistant to the villain in Malayalam films. During those years, women and children would stay far away from me, he says, in his air-conditioned trailer van at Chembumukku. They identified me with my roles too much. When Baburaj would go for a function, people would keep a safe distance from him.
But when he played a policeman in Aashique Abus Daddy Cool, in 2009, there was a touch of humour in it. When it was shown in the theatres, the audience laughed during my scenes, says Baburaj. Aashique noted that, and for his next project, Salt N Pepper, he asked me to
10:50 PM, Jul 03, 2012
