{{short description|1993 film by Sreekumar Krishnan Nair}} {{more citations needed|date=February 2012}} {{Use Indian English|date=December 2013}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}} {{Infobox film | name = O' Faby | image = O' Faby poster.jpg | caption = Theatrical poster | director = K. Shrikuttan | producer = Simon Tharakan | writer = Simon Tharakan<br />'''Dialogues:'''<br />Satheesh Babu Payyannur | screenplay = Simon Tharakan | story = Jensher | based_on = | starring = Nagesh<br />Thilakan<br />Srividya<br />Roque Tharakan<br />Manoj K. Jayan | narrator = | music = Johnson<br>'''Lyrics:'''<br>Bichu Thirumala | cinematography = Jayanan Vincent <br /> P. N. Sundaram <br />K. Ramachandra Babu <br />Venugopal | editing = M. S. Mani | animator = Ram Mohan Biographics & Gimmicks | production_companies = Jensher Productions | distributor = Jensher Productions | released = {{Film date|1993|08|27|df=yes}} | runtime = | country = India | language = Malayalam | budget = {{currency|1.4|INR}} crore<ref name="filmcomp">{{Cite web |url=https://www.filmcompanion.in/features/malayalam-features/o-faby-the-heartbreaking-story-behind-indias-first-live-action-animated-film/ |title=O' Faby: The Heartbreaking Story Behind India's First Live-Action/Animated Film |last=Menon |first=Vishal |date=9 March 2019 |website=Film Companion |access-date=5 October 2019|url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200620081722/https://www.filmcompanion.in/features/malayalam-features/o-faby-the-heartbreaking-story-behind-indias-first-live-action-animated-film/|archive-date=20 June 2020}}</ref> | gross = }} '''''O' Faby''''' is a 1993 Malayalam-language film. It was Asia's first full-length live-action/animation hybrid feature film. Directed by Sreekumar Krishnan Nair. It stars Nagesh, Thilakan, Roque Tharakan, Manoj K. Jayan and Srividya. The director of animation was Ram Mohan. Singers K. J. Yesudas, K. S. Chithra and S. P. Balasubrahmanyam sing songs with lyrics penned by Bichu Thirumala. The cinematography team included Jayanan Vincent, Ramachandra Babu P. N. Sundaram and Venugopal Madathil.
== Plot == ''O' Faby'' tells the story of the friendship between the hero and the animated character, Faby. The producer's son Roque played the hero role. The hero experiences many troubles but is saved by Faby.
== Cast == {{div col}} *Shammi Thilakan (voice) & Mela Raghu (motion capture) as Faby *Roque Tharakan as Sandy (voiced by Sudheesh) *Nagesh as Muthu Swami *Thilakan as Commissioner Nair *Srividya as Sophie *Devan as John *Nassar as S.I Sekher *Ilavarasi as Jeni *Manoj K. Jayan as S.I Siby *Krishnankutty Nair as Slum man *N. L. Balakrishnan as Fernandez *Philomina as Mary *Ashokan *Subair as C.I Jayashankar *Jagathy Sreekumar as Rappai *Narendra Prasad as Saint *Raghavan as P.C Rajaram *Mamukkoya as Tea seller *Sukumari as Slum Lady *Divya Unni as Child *Sandra Thomas as Child *Sachith Soju as Child *Shajith as Kishore *Rafeeq as Christopher {{div col end}}
== Production == === Development === Sreekumar Krishnannair (K. Sreekuttan), son of veteran director M. Krishnan Nair decided to make a live-action animated film after watching ''Who Framed Roger Rabbit'' and wanted to attempt similar experiment in Malayalam. Simon Tharakan, an NRI who learned of a news article about a mechanical robot founded by Sreekuttan's friend VS Sabu travelled to India to meet the inventor and he decided to produce a film.<ref name="filmcomp" />
VS Sabu and Tharakan decided to have Sreekuttan to handle the direction after observing his work on the sets of ''Sargam''. Sreekuttan expressed his interest to do a live-action animated film to which they agreed. Tharakan came up with a concept based on character Fagin from ''Oliver Twist''. Tharakan's son Roquey was chosen to portray the film's main protagonist.<ref name="filmcomp" />
=== Filming === To make actors react and emote to the animated character, Sreekuttan chosen Raghu of ''Mela'' to play human version of Faby and a costume was created to resemble the sketches of Faby and given to Raghu. After this, the scenes were shot again leaving spaces to be “filled in later” with the animated figures.<ref name="filmcomp" />
For the post-production to include animation, makers met Ram Mohan, father of animation who scolded them for making a film without employing an animator for pre-production and for not story boarding the film however he then gave them drawings for the cartoon characters along with a template of expressions for each situation.<ref name="filmcomp" /> Makers had problems in including the animated sequences to the footage so a basic Click 3 camera was bought and a halogen light was fixed onto it, "Each film from O’ Faby's reels was then fixed onto the Click 3 camera for the image to get magnified, making the tracing simpler". Around 50 artists too were hired full-time to sketch the cartoon characters into cel sheets which went on for more than a year.<ref name="filmcomp" /> The film's budget was around 1.4. crores.<ref name="filmcomp" />
== Soundtrack == Soundtrack was composed by Johnson and the lyrics by Bichu Thirumala.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.malayalachalachithram.com/listsongs.php?m=2698|title=List of Malayalam Songs from the movie O Faby|work=Malayala Chithiram|date=26 Oct 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026072543/https://www.malayalachalachithram.com/listsongs.php?m=2698|archive-date=26 October 2019}}</ref> *O Faby - K. J. Yesudas *Rajapakshi - K. J. Yesudas *Dingara Dinga - S. P. Balasubrahmanyam *Thaaazhathum - K. S. Chithra
== Release == Simon Tharakan who produced the film had distributed it all by himself. The film was released in August 1993 despite hype, the film failed at the box-office.<ref name="filmcomp" />
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMDb title|0353824|O' Faby}} {{India Animation Industry}}
Category:1993 films Category:Indian animated films Category:1993 Malayalam-language films Category:Indian films with live action and animation Category:1990s children's fantasy films Category:Indian children's fantasy films Category:1993 animated films Category:Films directed by Sreekumar Krishnan Nair