Fahadh Faasil, Mahesh Narayanan discuss Malik, CU Soon and how their friendship affects their collective creative process

According to editor-writer-director Mahesh Narayanan it was Fahadh Faasil who played a key role in his induction as a filmmaker in Malayalam cinema. It was Fahadh who asked him to direct a film for the first time. And since then it’s been a solid collaboration, beginning with a brief but pivotal role in Take Off, a rescue mission inspired from a real-life incident, CU Soon, made during the lockdown, which was a gripping survival drama, set in the backdrop of human trafficking in Dubai.

Now their latest partnership, Malik, a period drama set in the timeframe between the early 1960s to 2018, is built around a terrain he is familiar with. It’s also their most ambitious film yet, in scale and budget. More from the duo.

Mahesh has maintained that Malik is inspired from a place and people he was familiar with and not based on any real-life incidents. What really excited you about Malik?

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Fahadh: We initially discussed this subject in 2011 and 2012, I think. Eventually what excited me was the way the story was narrated. It had a very fresh narrative pattern. Same incident is being narrated from three different perspectives. Besides this had not been explored in Kerala or should I say India before. That way the film is very fresh.

Also your character Suleiman Malik is shown between 20s to 50s and you have lost weight for the role. Is this the first time you have something like that for a role?

Fahadh: This is the first time I am playing a character that is not in my age group. Suleiman is 30 years older than me. So primarily that was the challenge. I always make sure that I look my character and that way half of my job is done. And with Malik I was totally dependent on my DOP and makeup artist Ranjith. We tried out different options. One was that Suleiman will look smaller when he is old, and I also got some references from how my granddad looked.

Did that help you to get into the character better?

Fahadh: It will, no? When you are trying to look the part, it will eventually help you perform. Malik is a purely author-backed screenplay. It was all given to me.

How did you both meet?

Mahesh Narayan: I don’t remember. I think I called him after Traffic, which was shot by Shyju Khalid.

Fahadh: Yes, we met through Shyju.

How would you define your friendship?

Mahesh: I think we bonded over our love for cinema and more than that it's about how we collaborate with cinema. There is a kind of transparency in our work. We have things more than cinema to discuss. He understands me well. Even Malik happened like that. I was behind another project and Fahadh knew it and I couldn’t mount it.

How would you describe Malik?

Fahadh: Malik doesn’t refer to a person. Malik refers to a community. The character I play echoes the voice of a community. It’s a loaded narrative. The film talks about 30 years of history of Kerala coastal region and primarily the film is stocked to entertain with different layers like love, hatred, and betrayal.

I have heard that the film was shot in reverse. From the older character to the younger one. Was it tough?

Fahad: I did the old version first because if that doesn’t work out, we can pack up and go home. Everyone was convinced, be it Sanu or Mahesh, about my age. You know it’s a constant process. Everyday might not be a good day. Some days we may find it difficult to pull off things that’s why you depend on the team. Ranjith used my granddad’s basic sketches and all that. Not one particular person.

Which is your favourite performance of Fahadh’s from your films?

Mahesh: I would say whatever the audience hasn’t seen is my favourite, so I can say it’s Malik.

Fahad: My personal favourite is Kevin, and I went back to him and asked him to do another CU Soon. I think it's because there is something intriguing about Kevin and gives the feeling that there is more to explore about him.

Mahesh: On that note I would say that I have seen a lot of Kevin’s in my life. My wife used to work in a software firm and would collect a lot of data, get algorithms for software. She used to get irritable and wonder if whatever they are doing is illegal but then it’s a software company and you need to collect the data. Kevin came from there and how these people used to work.

Do self-doubt and perfection get in the way for you as an actor?

Fahadh: All the time. I completely depend on my writer and director, and I cannot do this without interacting. Most of the time I go back to them and ask them about scenes and whether we can do it again. It’s all about self-doubt and me depending on the technicians to get it right.

Fahadh Faasil, Vinay Forrt and Nimisha Sajayan in a still from Malik

What’s the actor-filmmaker equation and process like?

Mahesh: While we were discussing Malik, there were constant suggestions and opinions. Fahadh had a lot of apprehensions about doing the older character as he has a problem with prosthetics. And I had to push him. This was an interactive collaborative process, and we enjoyed that detail. It’s all about how we are going to bring it all together and execute this. I would say the biggest challenge was CU Soon, people think it is an easy project, but it wasn’t. It was the first wave of the pandemic, and we couldn’t release it, so we had ample time to work on it. When I look back, out of all the other screenplays, exploring the internet for research was the toughest and we delivered the film in three months.

Was Malik the most difficult role to crack?

Fahadh: Yes, since I have not depended on a third factor for my looks. Here I had to count on my grey hair and skin tone, and we used a different dialect. You have to convey 30 years of a lifetime in two-and-half hours, so that’s difficult. It’s about the detailing, using scenes as reading between the lines for the audience to understand. There was someone who rewrote the entire script in Thiruvananthapuram slang.

Is there a character that intimidated you? Scared you while attempting it?

Fahadh: No. Either I have got it right or I haven’t.

So what will you do if you realise that you’re not getting it right?

Fahadh: The scenes won’t work. You will address it and say that something has to be drastically changed. Either one should play it the way they have written it or the way they are shooting it. But it rarely happens. We only go into a shoot after all this. Capturing is always easy for us, as we go in with clarity.

What’s Fahadh’s biggest quality as an actor?

Mahesh: Patience. That’s what is required. To keep observing things. That patience is what keeps him growing and learning.

Is he one of those actors who is always in the character when he is on the sets?

Mahesh: I don’t think so. Never.

Can a great performance come from a safe place? Do you need lived experiences to make it believable?

Fahadh: The excitement of performance I think is in assuming than going through it. I think it's very foolish to actually go through it. As an actor, it sounds more fun and human in exploring the mindset than experiencing it. I think you have to be responsible when you are performing, remind yourself that I am Fahadh Faasil, and I am performing as Suleiman. I have to be aware of my responsibilities while performing and off-camera. It’s my assumption or my interpretation of how the character could have been. That’s how I approach it. I don’t go through it. I sort of understand and try to replay it.

What happens after you approach Fahadh with a character? Does your friendship help in lightening the atmosphere on the sets as well?

Mahesh: With Fahadh I can bounce an idea but with other actors, I have to go through the script, and then only can I bounce the idea and see how he/she is responding to it. But once I am on the sets, then I become the tormentor. I remember this incident where Vinay Forrt after booking a car told his wife that he is reconsidering it as he wasn’t sure about continuing acting after Malik. It was Fahadh who told him this is normal on location and tried to understand that I am a psycho on the sets. I am never happy with the portions I receive. I keep pushing till I get exactly what I have in mind.

And finally Fahadh, have you turned down a film because you believed it conveyed a message it didn’t believe in?

No, I haven’t done any film that conveys any message. I am okay with any controversy that comes with a film. I have turned down films if I haven’t liked the story.