'1000 Babies' Series Cast And Character

1000 Babies, the 2024 Disney+ Hotstar show, is a unique investigative drama that tackles the story of a woman who committed a grave crime and confessed to it on her deathbed. Her confession had a drastic effect on people, especially her son. The unofficial investigation into this confession uncovers a possible serial killer scenario, resulting in many characters being introduced. Some of them are victims, while others are potential targets, and it’s around these characters that the investigative drama revolves.

Spoilers Ahead

Veteran actor Rahman as Aji Kurian is introduced in the show as an investigating officer who is trying to find the culprit who killed the actress Ancy. This leads him to Sarah’s confession letters, which leave him dumbfounded. Aji wants to get to the bottom of it and catch the serial killer who has secretly killed people across the country, yet his movements have not alarmed the police somehow. Aji is quick to deduce the modus operandi and gets into action to find out who the possible serial killer is. Aji’s secret investigation serves a purpose, which is to make sure nobody outside of the small circle is made aware of the confession letter that would cause chaos in the state. Aji Kurian himself is alarmed after learning of the contents of the letter. 

Sanju Sivaram, an up-and-coming actor in Malayalam cinema, is Bibin in 1000 Babies. Bibin’s character is explored through images and stories from the friends and families of the victim he has killed. Bibin took on several identities as the years went by and killed people in a fashion that finally got the attention of the police, especially Aji, who in the process uncovered Bibin’s mother’s confession letters. Bibin is the perfect example of someone with trauma that manifested into severe mental health concerns. This led to him committing murders. It is appalling to see the steps Bibin has taken just to get to the target he had in mind and eventually eliminate him. His logic and motive are yet to be revealed, but Aji’s motive is to stop Bibin from committing more murders. Bibin has no intention of stopping at this point, and as a result, a lot needs to be uncovered about his modus operandi and how he’s seeking his next potential target. There is a concern he might be  committing these crimes to seek the attention of the police and force them to reveal the contents of the letters left by his mother.

Veteran actress from the Hindi cinema, Neena Gupta, is Sarah in 1000 Babies. Sarah is Bibin’s mother, an elderly woman who worked as a nurse with several hospitals throughout her life. Sarah, on her deathbed, left confession letters for the police and magistrate, which were not investigated initially. A decade later, the contents of the letters are revealed to an investigative officer, and they state Sarah swapped close to 1000 babies while working in a hospital from the years 1980-85. 

Sarah herself shows signs of undiagnosed mental distress, which may have led to her committing such a heinous crime. The idea behind sharing these confession letters is to let her get the weight of guilt off her chest and die in peace. She hopes this confession will force the police to get to the bottom of the matter and rectify the mistake she made many years ago. In the beginning of the show, Sarah is seen hallucinating many babies crying. Sarah keeps scribbling details on the wall from her diary. Sarah passed, knowing her confession would create chaos, but she had to do it to absolve herself of her crimes. 

Nazlin Saleem plays Renuka Swaminathan, Bibin’s first victim, a software engineer who lived in Bangalore with her parents. Aji’s investigation uncovered her death to be due to a drug overdose. Renuka in the show is presented with enough stories of her friends and family. Renuka is shown to have an abysmal relationship with her parents, and they seem to put up with it. There is no reason explained behind the strained relationship. Bibin, as Harshan, is her friend in Bangalore who goes out of his way to make her feel good about herself. Bibin as Harshan did everything he could to manipulate Renuka and made her feel he was on her side while he plotted her death all the while. Renuka’s death is passed off as her own doing because of her vices, which did not strike any alarm bells with her family or friends. 

Manesh Krishnan, as Devan Kupleri in 1000 Babies, is one of the many who were swapped on birth by Bibin’s mother. Bibin walks into Devan’s life as Naisam Ali, who claims he is interested in converting to Hinduism. As Devan is the leader of a right-wing fundamentalist party, from the start he is seen spewing harmful speeches that can disrupt communal harmony. Devan’s character is not alive right from the start of the show. Devan committed suicide as a video of him eating meat was leaked. He took his life out of the shame he caused to his family, and his political party. Through his old friend, Aji learns of Devan’s moral police tactics and how his hypocrisy is on display. Aji assumes Bibin as Naisam Ali took it upon himself to get rid of the two-faced leader. 

Radhika Radhakrishnan is an RJ turned actor, and in 1000 Babies, she portrays the deceased Ancy Sanjeevan, a film actress who was stuck in an unhappy marriage with her long-term partner Sanjeevan. Most of what we see of Ancy in the show is from the perspective of people who knew her. Most of them were Sanjeev and her colleagues. From many of the statements gathered during the investigation into her death, Aji learned that Ancy was arrogant to her husband after she became famous. She was expected to be the pillar of strength as her husband was not a bankable actor anymore. Her relationship with Sanjeev was already on the rocks, and it only got worse as the days went by. Ancy was seen to have taken many practical decisions about her life, and since Sanjeevan was egoistic, he did not view her success as something he should rejoice over.

Ashwin Kumar in 1000 Babies is Sanjeevan, the popular actor/husband of the deceased Ancy. Sanjeevan, and right from the start, he is showcased as an out-of-work actor who is trying to find a foothold in the world of social media through YouTube vlogging. He is also a suspect in his wife’s murder case, as he was known to be jealous of her success. Sanjeevan is an example of a misogynistic man who is unable to fathom the idea of his wife becoming more successful than he is. Sanjeevan is a suspect, but the investigation team does not have enough evidence to prove his involvement in the murder. As per Ancy and Sanjeevan’s friends and acquaintances, the tension between the couple was on the rise, and Aji couldn’t help but find signs that pointed to the actor being the culprit. 

Dain Davis in 1000 Babies plays the supporting character Suneer, who is one of the many kids who was swapped by Sarah as per her diary. Bibin, as Naisam, got in touch with Suneer, and it turns out the latter was a good person who was struggling to live with his abusive father. As Naisam, Bibin tested Suneer at several points of their friendship, but the latter turned out to be a good person who was trying to get his life on track but walking on eggshells because of his awful father.