PremiumPanchayat’s Faisal Malik on still being approached to play ‘kameena’ police officer every other day - ‘I ask if there is anything beyond that?’ | Exclusive
Faisal Malik, who plays Prahlad in Panchayat, was also a part of Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs Of Wasseypur, in which he played a cop.
Last Updated: 02.56 PM, May 30, 2024
Actors being stereotyped is a problem that has plagued not just Indian cinema but the industry across the world. Putting artists into brackets and telling them to do the same things again and again is not a new phenomenon. Recently, when OTTplay sat down for a discussion with the team of Panchayat, Faisal Malik, a brilliant actor from the show, spoke about the issue and his struggle with it. If you do not remember who Faisal is, he is the man who plays one of the most emotional characters on the show, one who made us cry in the second season finale. Malik plays Prahlad, a character that has a separate fanbase. But when we spoke to him about his struggle to find work beyond Panchayat, we indeed got a surprising answer.
Faisal Malik on Work Beyond Panchayat
Faisal Malik has a good resume, and the actor became a household name after playing Prahlad in Panchayat. Labelled as the most heartbreaking character on the show in the last two seasons, the actor has an amazing range. But that doesn't mean it translates into a tsunami of work. While he has indeed done some very good projects that are yet to be released, he says the struggle to find work is still very difficult. In an exclusive conversation with us, he revealed how people call him to play a police officer every second day and that he is done with it.
Interestingly, if you remember, he played a police officer in Anurag Kashyap's cult movie Gangs of Wasseypur. In our conversation, when we asked him about finding work beyond Panchayat, he was quick to call it a battle. “It's still an everyday fight. I get a script to play a police officer every day. Someone comes and asks, 'Will you become a police officer or an inspector?' Someone calls and says, ‘I am XYZ talking; there's a role of a very slavish police officer.’ I always ask, ‘Is there anything beyond that?’ and they say no. But I have done some good work now; once that is released, maybe there will be a change in this.”
Faisal Malik further spoke about how waiting is the ultimate test in the profession and that patience is the biggest virtue. “But I think acting is a very tough job. You need a lot of patience. When an actor is vulnerable and very emotional, you know this can happen because he has been waiting for a long time. He doesn't know who is watching his film or his act, and they are deciding whether to cast him in their project. We never know. This is why I have immense respect for everyone who acts,” Faisal concluded.
Check Out The Conversation Below:
Panchayat is now streaming on Amazon Prime Video and the third season of the show is the aftermath of what happened last season. Prahlad is grieving the death of his son who lost his life on the border, the Vidhayak has transferred Abhishek from Phulera and everyone misses him. In the scheme of things Sachiv returns and Phulera now stands united to fight the politician. Stay tuned to OTTplay for more information on this and everything else from the world of streaming and films.