Fahadh Faasil

Fahadh Faasil (born Fahad Fazil; 8 August 1982) is an Indian actor and film producer, who predominantly works in the Malayalam film industry. He has acted in more than 40 films and has received several awards, including a National Film Award, four Kerala State Film Awards and three Filmfare Awards South. Fahadh is the son of filmmaker Fazil. Fahadh began his film career at the age of 19 by starring in the leading role in his father Fazil's 2002 romantic film Kaiyethum Doorath, which was a critical and commercial failure. After a gap of 7 years, Fahadh made his comeback with the anthology film Kerala Cafe (2009), in the short film Mrityunjayam. He attained public attention for his role as Arjun in the thriller film Chaappa Kurishu (2011). Fahad won his first Kerala State Film Award, the Best Supporting Actor Award for his performance in Chaappa Kurishu along with his performance in Akam. He achieved critical acclaim and recognition for his roles as Cyril in 22 Female Kottayam (2012) and Dr Arun Kumar in Diamond Necklace (2012). He won his first Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his role in 22 Female Kottayam.

Fahadh achieved further critical and commercial success for his films in 2013, including his performances in the romantic-drama film Annayum Rasoolum, the black-comedy satire film Amen, the road movie North 24 Kaatham, the drama film Artist, and the romantic-comedy Oru Indian Pranayakatha. He won the Kerala State Film Award for Best Actor for his performances as Michael in Artist and Harikrishnan in North 24 Kaatham. He also won his second Filmfare Award for Best Actor for his role in North 24 Kaatham. He followed it up by starring as Shivadas in the coming-of-age drama film Bangalore Days (2014), which ranks among the highest-grossing Malayalam films. He produced and starred as Aloshy in the 2014 period film Iyobinte Pusthakam under his production company, Fahadh Faasil and Friends Pvt Ltd. Fahadh had roles as Mahesh Bhavana in Maheshinte Prathikaaram (2016), Indian diplomat Manoj Abraham in Take Off (2017), and Prasad in Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum (2017), with Maheshinte Prathikaaram and Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum winning the Best Feature Film in Malayalam Award at the 64th and 65th National Film Awards. He won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum (2017) and his third Filmfare Award for Best Actor - Malayalam. In 2018, he acted as Prakashan in the film Njan Prakashan which ranks among highest-grossing Malayalam films and as Aby in the film Varathan.

Early years
Fahadh is the son of film director Fazil and his wife Rozina. He has two sisters, Ahameda and Fatima, and a brother, Farhaan, also an actor. He completed his schooling from SDV Central School Alappuzha, Lawrence School Ooty and Choice School Tripunithura. He went on to pursue his degree from Sanatana Dharma College, Alleppey and M.A. in philosophy from University of Miami in the United States.

Career
Fahadh's first film, Kaiyethum Doorath (2002) was directed by his father, director Fazil and failed at the box office. Fahadh later defended his father, stating "don't blame my father for my failure because it was my mistake and I came into acting without any preparation of my own". After his debut, he moved to the United States for five years, where he pursued his studies, before returning in 2009 to act in the film Kerala Cafe (2009), conceived by director Ranjith. At Ranjith's behest, director Uday Ananthan cast Fahad in his Mrityunjayam, one of the 10 shorts in the film. He played the role of a journalist in the Mrityunjayam, a ghost film set on a spooky old 'Mana'. He was chosen to co-star in B. Unnikrishnan's Pramani. He then appeared as a business head in the thriller Cocktail (2010). His next film, Tournament, was also a thriller.

His performance in Sameer Thahir's directorial debut Chappa Kurishu, a thriller in which he appeared as the head of a construction business was appreciated. "Arjun – my character in Chappa Kurishu is not a role that an actor gets often. I am very lucky and very fortunate," Fahad said. He shot a long kissing scene with his co-star Remya Nambeesan in the film – supposedly the first ever in Malayalam cinema – which upon release was termed controversial.

Fahadh's next film, Akam, a contemporary adaptation of Malayatoor Ramakrishnan's psycho-thriller novel Yakshi, had him playing Srinivas, a young architect, who starts suspecting that his beautiful wife is a yakshi. "Playing Srinivas was like re-inventing myself. We had a workshop before shooting began and I had ample opportunity to explore the nuances of the character. In the process of re-inventing Srinivas, I reinvented myself," said Fahadh. The film premiered at the Dubai International Film Festival. 22 Female Kottayam, a revenge film had him playing a negative character. In his next film, Lal Jose's Diamond Necklace, he played the role of an oncologist working in Dubai and the film centred on the doctor's relationship with three different women.

In June 2012, a case was registered against Fahadh by the Kochi Town Central Police for violation of the rule against public display of images of smoking. A poster of Diamond Necklace that showed him smoking a cigarette had been on display before the Kavitha Theatre in Kochi since the film was released.

In his next film, Lijin Jose's Friday, he acted as an auto rickshaw driver. The same year, he appeared in The Day of Judgement, one of the three featurettes from the portmanteau film D Company. His other films were cinematographer Rajeev Ravi's directorial debut Annayum Rasoolum, Lijo Jose Pellissery's Amen, V. K. Prakash's Natholi Oru Cheriya Meenalla and Salam Bappu's directorial debut Red Wine. Amen was named as one of the best films of the year by Khaleej Times while Annayum Rasoolum managed to be a hit. In 2014, he acted in the big budget movie, Iyobinte Pusthakam which was produced by him. He also played a major role in the blockbuster movie Bangalore days. 2015 was a dull year for him as he was unable to pull off a successful project. In 2016, his first release, Monsoon Mangoes failed at the box office, even though his performance was highly praised and the movie gathered good critic responses. His next release was on 5 February 2016 Maheshinte Prathikaaram which went on to become a blockbuster. It was highly applauded by both audience and critics. His had continuous box office successes with Varathan, Njan Prakashan, and Kumbalangi Nights which collectively grossed more than ₹ 100 crore at the box office.

Fahadh also appears in Tamil cinema, he debuted in the industry through the movie Velaikkaran starring Sivakarthikeyan, opposite whom he plays the antagonist. He next appeared in the critically acclaimed film Super Deluxe where he co-starred alongside Vijay Sethupathi, Samantha Akkineni and Ramya Krishnan, his performance in the film was well appreciated by critics, with them saying his character was written well.

Personal life
On 20 January 2014, he got engaged to Malayalam film actress Nazriya Nazim whom he married on 21 August 2014 at Trivandrum. The pair got to know each other more on the sets of Anjali Menon's Bangalore Days (2014), in which they played the roles of husband and wife. Fahadh revealed that their parents had been pivotal in arranging the marriage.

Other works
He has also appeared in several advertisements for brands like Titan, Milma, Jos Alukkas, Adithi Aatta, Bombay gold and diamonds, UAE Exchange and Estilocus.