Newsletter | The OTTplay Guide To Fahadh Faasil's Top 10 Roles

This column was originally published as part of our newsletter The Daily Show on April 18, 2023. Subscribe here. (We're awesome about not spamming your inbox!)

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WIDELY REGARDED as one of the best actors of his generation, Fahadh Faasil’s career didn’t exactly begin on the brightest of notes. But six years after that shaky debut, he returned in 2009 with Kerala Cafe. It was a propitious moment for a second shot: Malayalam cinema had welcomed a wave of new writers and filmmakers, armed with fresh ideas and stories. There was now a space for flawed characters, for narratives about ordinary people in realistic milieus. It was the perfect setting and opportunity for Fahadh, whose revelatory onscreen turns would soon bring him to national attention. As he readies for the release of the promising Dhoomam (dir. Pawan Kumar), we’re ranking Fahadh’s top-10 performances in our books.

10. Annayum Rasoolum (Rasool): In this Rajeev Ravi-directed Romeo & Juliet spin-off, it’s Fahadh’s earnest act as Rasool, a Fort Kochi-based taxi driver who falls heads over heels in love with Anna (Andrea Jeremiah), that helps us wade through the otherwise problematic layers of stalking in the film. If not for Fahadh’s soft brown, puppy-like eyes that devotedly seek out Anna, Rasool’s pursuit might have creeped you out. Just for the final act that has Rasool grieving by Anna’s lifeless form as though his soul too has left his body, this film deserves a mention. A performance that cannot be ignored.

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9. Super Deluxe (Mugil): Fahadh plays Mugil, a struggling actor who seems to be going through a rough patch with his wife, in Thiagarajan Kumararaja’s Tamil film. Nothing prepares him, however, for the day he discovers the body of his wife’s dead paramour stuffed inside their refrigerator. The scene where Mugil registers his wife’s deception is Fahadh at his most sublime. The expected explosion never comes: the initial shock is followed by betrayal, and pain. And all the while he has to keep calm as there are guests in the couple’s home. There is another scene where he carries on a conversation with the corpse, and Fahadh is darkly funny in it. Easily one of his most memorable roles.

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8. Carbon (Sibi Sebastian): Sibi always has half-baked plans to make a quick buck up his sleeve. In his 30s, Sibi has an uneventful backstory but lofty ambitions, which include making easy money from selling elephants and emeralds, to embarking on a mindless treasure hunt. It’s Fahad’s immersive performance that saves the film from plunging into mediocrity. He is exceptional, especially in the last 30 minutes that show Sibi grappling between his greed and subsistence. It’s a no-holds-barred act that showcases his intensity as an actor.

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7. C U Soon (Kevin): Whenever he slips into urban roles, it almost feels like Fahadh is peeling away a layer of his personality on screen, thanks to an intrinsic sophistication that makes the shift seamless. In Mahesh Narayanan’s C U Soon, Kevin is a techie who practically lives in the virtual space, constantly on business con-calls and even negotiating his relationships in that world. He is cocky, manipulative, and emotionally abusive towards his girlfriend, and expects her to be at his beck and call whenever he feels like it. Fahadh personifies Kevin’s greyness and idiosyncrasies with ease. Kevin is so self-absorbed that you wonder how many friends he has. Yet when he reluctantly agrees to help out a cousin, you are equally with him. Fahadh brings a devilish charm to Kevin.

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6. Maheshinte Prathikaaram (Mahesh): Typecast as an urban Casanova, the role of a photographer who runs a decrepit studio in a sleepy town in Central Kerala was way out of his comfort zone for Fahadh. Mahesh was passive, took care of his ailing father, was madly in love with his girlfriend, and had a lazy, operational approach to photography. His ordinary world comes crashing down when he suffers a public humiliation and his girlfriend breaks up with him. That’s what shapes his coming-of-arc, coinciding with Mahesh discovering the true meaning of photography — and finding love again. It is not exactly a faultless performance, as comedy is still an area where Fahadh’s usual fluidity is missing. Look out for the scene where he glides from the steps shyly thinking of his lady love and you know it takes some effort. Something Mohanlal (with whom he is often compared) would have done with ease. It’s a performance that takes its own sweet time to unravel and Fahadh slowly but steadily wins you over. Surprisingly, not unlike Mahesh.

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5. Joji (Joji): In this Dileesh Pothan directorial, Joji is a frail, pint-sized, deceptively harmless young lad who lives in a mansion occupied by hypermasculine men. There is his formidably autocratic father; Joji’s burly brothers are slavish in their obsequiousness to the patriarch. No wonder Joji feels inadequate, prompting him to assert his power in the most comical ways. He is desperate to flex his non-existent authority and somehow ends up being put in his place. Not only did Fahadh physically transform himself into Joji, but the emotional facets are also brilliantly internalised by the actor. His helplessness, greed, pent-up anger and devious game plans are so effectively synchronised by Fahadh that after a point you’d be forgiven for having difficulty in delineating Joji from the actor.

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4. Artist (Michael Agnelo): Michael is an arrogant, self-absorbed painter who cannot fathom a world beyond his canvases and his creations. He even views relationships with detachment. Michael doesn’t have the capacity to give as he is so immersed in his obsessive world of paintings and colours. Humans are just benefactors in his larger scheme of things. So it’s very easy to guess that his relationship with his significant other — Gayathri — is very one-sided. As far as he is concerned, she is just a provider while he paints. Fahadh brings such a tiresome intensity to Michael that you experience the exact rollercoaster of emotions he evokes in Gayathri.

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3. Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum (Prasad): Prasad is a crafty thief who is as adept at flicking gold chains as he is at weaving stories for the cops. Yet, we are consumed by a strange sense of empathy for him. Prasad casually drops profound hints about the kind of childhood he had, smilingly maintains his innocence, attempts to emotionally manipulate others, and when caught, admits that the “trick is to stick to your guns till the end”. It’s an act that comes out of nowhere and is therefore doubly impactful.

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2. Kumbalangi Nights (Shammi): This is Fahadh without even an iota of his staple mannerisms. Shammi is unlike any character Fahadh has played before or since. The actor has often been noted as having an affinity towards portraying characters who are borderline deranged. But even in this context, Shammi is a hyperbole. Shyam Pushkaran crafts him like a caricaturish alpha male. Outwardly Fahadh handles Shammi with restraint though you can almost visualise how his mind is teetering on the edge. That eerie smile that broadens as his thoughts go darker, the body language that reminds you of a caged animal, his eyes that miss nothing, and the subtle way in which he puts down people — only Fahadh could have pulled off Shammi with such overt dignity.

See it here.

1. Trance (Viju Prasad/Pastor): If there is a performance that can be placed among Malayalam cinema’s greats, then it has to be Fahad’s turn as Viju Prasad/Pastor Joshua Carlton in this Anwar Rasheed film. Viju is a small-time motivational speaker who also does odd jobs for a living. Viju’s quiet life comes to a screeching halt when he shifts to Mumbai and is hired to pose as a Christian pastor who performs (hoax) miracles. While the Viju portions are easy-peasy for the actor, it is when he transitions into the megalomaniacal Pastor that you register the depth of his craft. Sure, flashy clothes aid the external metamorphosis, but what the actor does internally is truly mesmerising to watch. The switch from Viju to Joshua is so visceral that it does feel like he has physically and emotionally traversed that path. That famous Fahadh Faasil gaze seems twice as hypotonic as he plays the hero and the fool with a delirious energy, leaving you exhausted and stunned all at once.

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