Fahadh in light-hearted role in Akhil Sathyan’s debut

What sets Fahadh Faasil apart from many is arguably his versatility, not only when it comes to selecting his roles but also in terms of performance. After choosing intense characters such as Joshua Carlton, the faith healer in

Trance

, and Sulaiman, the leader of a coastal community in Malik, the actor has now picked a role that lets him tap into his comic prowess.

In his upcoming film, which is directed by Sathyan Anthikad’s son Akhil, the actor will be seen essaying a role that has a huge scope for humour. “It’s a lightweight character,” says Akhil. “Fahadh plays a middle-class Malayali youth who is settled in Mumbai. The movie revolves around incidents that take place on a journey to Kerala. In a bird’s eye view, this is an entertainer but at the heart of it, it’s a story between a young girl and an older woman, and how Fahadh’s character connects them both.”

The movie has three heroines – Anjana Jayaprakash, Viji Venkatesh and Dwani Rajesh – apart from Innocent, Vineeth and Vijayaraghavan, who form the supporting cast.

Fahadh

was scheduled to join the team in the beginning of the month, but had to postpone. “He had a lost a lot of weight for Malik and looked really slim. He also had some reactions to medicines and needed time to recover. We wanted him to put on some weight again to look his part for our film. In between, he was also busy with Trance promotions. Right now, we have a shoot ban due to the Covid-19 situation; so, once that is cleared, we will resume production,” says Akhil.

The team though had shot a few portions of the second half in slums in Mumbai. “These scenes didn’t require Fahadh. A lot of newcomers are also part of the film including theatre artistes from Mumbai and Pune. We have edited the portions that we have shot,” says Akhil, who is also serving as the film’s editor.

Another main location of the film is Goa. Ask the filmmaker if it’s a road movie and he says, “We don’t stress on the travel of the character much, even though the location changes. The focus is on the situations that Fahadh’s character gets entangled in during his journey. He starts from Mumbai, reaches Kerala and then heads to Goa. In Goa, we will be shooting in Vasco, which is a slum area but has a Mexican feel to it and the Russian mafia still operates from there. We are also filming on a serene, secluded island.”

The film has now almost 60 days of shoot left that includes a two-week schedule in Kerala and a month-long one in Goa. On the technical front, the yet-to-be-titled movie has Dear Comrade music director Justin Prabhakar, Sye Raa production designer Rajeevan, Ambili cinematographer Saran Velayudhan and director Gautham Menon’s sister Uthara as costume designer.