The pandemic hasn’t been able to slow down Fahadh Faasil. If anything, the lockdown made viewers, hitherto unfamiliar with his works, discover the Malayalam star, thus bringing him pan-India fame. After doling out four releases in the past 16 months, including the widely acclaimed Joji, Faasil is back with another outing — Malik.

The Amazon Prime Video offering, which reunites him with C U Soon (2020) director Mahesh Narayanan, sees him as the leader of a coastal community who fights the political and police corruption prevalent in the region.

With the narrative spanning almost four decades, Faasil’s character will age on screen from 20 to 57 years. “I was a little doubtful about playing the old character on screen because I have always played characters that belong to my age group. But once we cracked the look, there was no going back,” says the actor, adding that he found himself relying on Narayanan’s vision for the role. “[To bring a character to life], one depends either on a trial-and-error process or on someone else [to guide him]. Malik was a difficult film to design, so I totally depended on the director.”

Movie on movie, the actor has exploring out-of-the-box characters. Ask him if he ever craves to play the clichéd chocolate boy, and he says, “I need to believe in the screenplay. I have never picked a film basis my character. For me, the priority is to see how the film evolves. I am open to anything as long as it excites me.”

What has got him excited these days is Vikram, and with good reason. The recently announced film, after all, sees him rub shoulders with Kamal Haasan and Vijay Sethupathi. “I have grown up watching [Haasan’s] films. I have always wondered how he functions and how he approaches his characters, so this is an exciting chance for me to learn about that. We’ll begin shooting next month.”

You can go in blind for a Fahadh Faasil movie, certain that you’ll witness a compelling story over the next two hours. Only few actors, in the Malayalam movie industry or across the country, can deliver on that count. The actor has struck gold again with his latest outing Joji that marks his reunion with Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum (2017) director Dileesh Pothan. “I want cinema to be as real as looking out the window. That has been my constant effort. For me, everything needs to be as real as we experience it, which is why I like shooting [in live locations],” begins Faasil, whose movies have shown that exciting stories lurk in the apparent humdrum of everyday life. 

From playing a husband who disposes of a dead body in Super Deluxe (2019) to the abusive Shammi in Kumbalangi Nights (2019), his roles have been as unconventional as they have been intriguing. “My taste is such that I like to see a regular character in an unconventional setting, or vice versa. It has to be a combination of these two [factors]. I don’t like to be repetitive. Even if it’s a remake, I want the same story to be told in a different way.”

That is precisely where the Amazon Prime Video offering, an adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Macbeth, fits in. “I have met [people] similar to Joji. So, it was easy to interpret the role, but difficult to play, given the way the film was narrated. For me, Joji was the toughest role to crack,” he admits.

Considering his popularity extends well beyond the South industry, his foray into Bollywood seems inevitable. “My Hindi is not fluent. Once I am fluent with the language, I may want to explore [Hindi cinema].”