Fahadh Faasil On How Ranga From 'Aavesham' Is A Failed Actor

Mayalalam cinema seems to be enjoying one of its best years at the movies with consecutive blockbusters that have also had a cultural impact. Films such as Manjummel Boys and Premalu have become runaway hits while others such as Mammootty’s Bramayugam prove the craft of the industry’s filmmakers. A recent addition to the list is Fahad Faasil’s Aavesham (streaming on Amazon Prime Video) which saw him play Ranga, a larger-than-life Malayali gangster living in Bengaluru.

Be it his white-and-white costume with gold jewellery, his oblivious nature, or his catchphrase ‘Eda Mone’, which has become an internet sensation, Fahadh’s Ranga seems to have won the hearts of cinephiles across the country and is on his way to becoming one of Indian cinema’s most iconic characters.

“The character is someone Jithu [Madhavan, Director of Aavesham] met when he was in college in Bangalore,” Fahadh told Anupama Chopra in an interview. “During the first two weeks of filming, he told me, ‘This guy observes well and if two people are talking, he will observe them and smile’. It’s not used in any part of the film, but Ranga was that. Even if he is not there in a conversation, he is enjoying it. One of the backstories for Ranga was that he is a failed actor. He was a major fan of a particular Kannada actor. But it’s just too much information to pack in.”

One of the early scenes in Aavesham sees Fahadh Faasil as Ranga dancing around his house with nothing but a towel on. It shows an unhinged side of the character, who is not afraid to be vulnerable or be labelled as ‘cringe’ despite hanging out with a generation much younger than him. “My wife (actress Nazriya) just said 'If you are removing your shirt, just look presentable,'” says Fahadh when asked about the scene. “More than anything, it is a celebration of the character. Jithu wanted to do something much wilder. We did not shoot it because of the time factor. There are a couple of interesting scenes that we shot and a few that we didn’t. The character itself is so wild that you can come up with any scene and make it work.”

Fahadh, who is riding high on a string of successes today, has seen his shares of ups and downs in the industry. But he still feels upset when a film doesn't work. “Today I’m sensible enough to structure my films in a way that even if it does not create any magic at the box office, everyone involved is covered. But I still get upset. When you are doing a film, it is a result of your thoughts and your belief systems. When a film fails, what hurts the most is the realisation that my thoughts were wrong. To know that you were absolutely wrong or the way you observed something was not the way it played out, that disturbs me.”

But the actor seems to have a solution when things go wrong for him. “I’ll put it in a way my wife often does: ‘You’ve been doing this for twelve years, man. Chill.’”