The lockdown period has been one which has given non-malayali audiences an enlightenment about the quality and worthiness of Malayalam movies. The trend of watching malayalam movies has spiked up to a large extent. Out of the lot, one actor who has gained a lot of fame and recognition recently has to be Fahadh Faasil. This Mollywood actor has come a long way from Kaiyethum Doorath in 2002 to Joji in 2021. Let us see what his journey has been like over a period of 19 years:
As the son of Director Fazil, Fahadh started his career at the age of 19 with Kaiyethum Doorath, which was directed by his father. When the movie did not fare well in the box-office, he said, “Don’t blame my father for my failure because it was my mistake and I came into acting without any preparation of my own”. He then took a five year break to complete his masters M.A Philosophy, in the University of Miami, United States.
He came back with a bang into the Mollywood industry in 2009 playing the role of a journalist in ‘Mrityunjayan’ a segment of the anthology film Kerala Cafe. He played small yet significant roles in his next movies like Pramani, Cocktail and Tournament, which were all released in 2010.
He then won the 42nd Kerala State Film Award for supporting actor for his role in the movie Chappa Kurishu in which he played the character of a head of a construction business.
He had a long-kissing scene with his co-actor Remya Nambeesan, which was apparently the first in Malayalam cinema and sparked controversies as soon as it was released.
After some successful movies like 22 Female Kottayam, Annayum Rasoolum, and Amen, Fahadh was recognised for his character arc in Akam. The movie was a contemporary adaptation of a psycho-thriller novel Yakshi where Fahadh played the role of Srinivas, a young architect, who starts suspecting that his beautiful wife is a yakshi.
Few movies in which Fahadh stands out for his negative character are 22 Female Kottayam Diamond Necklace, and Kumbalangi Nights. His consecutive negative roles in the first two movies, came as a shock to fans, but were accepted with open arms. Kumbalangi nights brought out his acting potential and led him to win the Kerala State Film Award for Best Character Actor. In totality, Fahadh has a National Film Award, two Kerala State Film Awards and three Filmfare Awards South under his name.
Movies like Njan Prakashan and Oru Indian Pranayakadha showed the funny and comical side of Fahadh. Movies like Bangalore Days, Varathan and Kumbalangi Nights were consecutive successes and gave him his much required recognition in the film industry. It was in the sets of Bangalore Days that he met Nazriya Nazim, where they both fell in love and got married in 2014. Even today, their respective Instagram pages make fans yearn for a relationship like theirs.
Fahadh entered the Kollywood industry with Velaikkaran in 2017, playing the antagonist against Sivakarthikeyan. His role in Super Deluxe was also appreciated by Kollywood audiences. Since 2019, Fahadh has been acting in a lot of hit movies like Athiran, Trance, etc. Movies like Irul and Joji which were released very recently on OTT have also proved to be spelling success for the actor. Fahadh is all set to act opposite Ulagnayagan Kamal Hassan in his upcoming movie directed by Lokesh Kanagaraj. He is also debuting into the Tollywood industry with the movie ‘Pushpa’ which is yet to release.
Being the son of a successful director, it has taken a longtime and a fair share of failures for Fahadh to reach the recognition and position he is at today. In 20 odd years, Fahadh has starred in 40 plus movies with fundamentally brilliant roles and outstanding performances. Many actors do not take risks with their career and stick to very conventional and commercial roles. Fahadh is one actor, who has taken a lot of risks by doing different and difficult roles and has proved that hard work, patience and talent leads to success.
