Natarajan Subramaniam

Biography

Yogi Babu (born 22 July 1985) is an Indian actor and comedian, who appears in Tamil films. He is a three-time Ananda Vikatan Cinema Award winner, he performed in Aandavan Kattalai (2016), Kolamavu Kokila (2018), and Pariyerum Perumal (2018).

Babu was born on 22 July 1985 in Arani, his father was a havildar in the Indian Army, so Babu had to travel a lot as a child, as a result of which he studied in Jammu in the early 1990s.

Babu married Manju Bhargavi on 5 February 2020 in an intimate ceremony held at their ancestral temple in Tiruttani.

Babu worked as an assistant director in the Lollu Sabha, and helped write scenes for two years. He made his feature film debut in the Ameer-starring Yogi (2009) as an aspiring actor and subsequently adapted the name of the film as a prefix for his stage name. He appeared as a goon in Paiyaa. 

He later appeared as a pimp in Sundar C.'s Kalakalappu (2012). In 2013, he appeared in his first extended comedy role with Pattathu Yaanai (2013), while he also featured in the Hindi film, Chennai Express alongside Shah Rukh Khan.

He then performed as a comedy rival to Sivakarthikeyan in Maan Karate (2014) and as an eerie comedian in Yaamirukka Bayamey (2014). In 2015, he appeared in over a dozen films and won positive reviews for his work in Kaaka Muttai (2015) and Kirumi (2015). Yogi Babu had a breakthrough year in 2016, featuring in 20 films, and winning critical acclaim for his role alongside Vijay Sethupathi in Aandavan Kattalai (2016). 

This was followed by his role in Kolamavu Kokila (2018) where his one-sided lover portrayal opposite Nayanthara was critically acclaimed while the Kalyana Vayasu song and his antics in it went viral. He appears as a supporting character in the film Pariyerum Perumal (2018), the film released to positive reviews from critics, with critics praising the comedy and performance of Yogi Babu.

 He acted for the first time as the lead role in Dharmaprabhu (2019) which he plays the role of Yamantaka. He played a key role in Gurkha (2019). Babu is a security guard in this hostage drama written and directed by Sam Anton. He acted with the Superstar Rajinikanth in Darbar (2020).

Starting his career as a comic relief in films starring stars like Rajinikanth, Ajith Kumar, and Vijay, he has also played leading roles in small-budget films and garnered critical acclaim. In the 2021, political satire Mandela, he played the eponymous character whose single vote would decide the results of the panchayat elections and was very well received