I still remember watching Kerala Cafe back in 2009. In one of the episodes ‘Mrityunjayanam’,a man knocks at Thilakan’s door and after a few minutes, a friend with whom I was watching the movie asked – ‘Who is this guy’ .I replied ‘Fahadh Fazil’ and he was shocked – ‘Fahadh , that guy from Kaiyethum Doorathu – No way !!’
There is a saying ‘First impression is the best impression’ and Fahadh ‘s story is a fine instance where that don’t hold any value at all. I still remember back in 2002 when Kaiyethum Doorathu released. We friends used to watch some scenes over and again ,where Fahadh emoted and danced just to laugh out loud and have a fun time. Nothing worked for poor Fahadh in his debut movie and he just disappeared from the movie arena. In a recent interview , he said :’Please don’t blame my father for my failure because it was my mistake and I came into acting without any preparation’ . He could have done a couple of more movies purely based on the hold his dad had or he could have come back sooner. Instead he waited patiently and prepared hard.
Fahadh’s hard work and perseverance did not go wasted. His small stint in Kerala cafe did get noticed and he got further small roles but it was Chaappa Kurish‘s Arjun with gray shades that proved a big turning point. He also won the state award for the second best actor in 2011 for Chappa Kurish and Akam. His ability to play negative character quite well was again exploited in 22 Female Kottayam.
Fahadh’s first attempt at carrying a movie on his entire shoulders in Diamond Necklace yielded fabulous results too the same year. Both these movies showcased his lighter side as well – especially in Diamond Necklace, his expressions during the dowry discussion and his dialogue to his wife -‘You only need cycle balance to drive in Dubai’ still being popular in the form of statuses and pictures in facebook.
2013 just got even better. Fahadh did a whopping 11 movies in 2013 and left a mark in most of them. In Amen and Annayum Rasoolum, he revealed his romantic side quite beautifully and also excelled equally well in the emotional scenes.The climax of Annayum Rasoolum where Rasool runs to Anna’s house to see her dead body and falls down is easily one of the best acting moments Malayalam Cinema witnessed last year.
In Indian Pranayakadha and North 24 Kaatham, he was once again at complete ease doing comedy.Finally his nuanced and terrific portrayal of the angry , arrogant and selfish ‘ Michael ‘ in Artist is going to stay with us for very long.
Today, 19 April 2014, is an important day for Fahadh Faasil. Announcement of his first best actor state award just came in few hours back and the movie – 1 by Two where he is portraying a police officer for the first time has also released today. Whatever the verdict on the movie is , in the current form , I dont see any reason why Fahadh won’t come out in flying colors in at least in his performance.
Fahadh is 31 years today .He lost a huge 7 years after his debut but the manner in which he more than made up for the lost years is hugely remarkable. This actor’s life story is a true inspiration for anyone who has struggled and failed in their first attempt at a profession.
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