Spoilers ahead

In Jithu Madhavan’s Aavesham (2024), there is a chilling scene where a rowdy plays dumb charades with his assembled gang. As the newbie in the group struggles to guess the title of the movie, the rowdy becomes increasingly agitated. Any moment now, he may resort to violence. There is so much menace built into what is frankly a ridiculous premise that when the correct answer is given, it is also the audience who is relieved.

The man playing the rowdy is, of course, Fahadh Faasil, Malayalam cinema’s go-to actor when it comes to pulling off manic, disturbed characters. As Ranga Annan in Aavesham, Fahadh brings layers to a character that was clearly written as a caricature. Ranga Annan is a braggart and a buffoon, but he’s also a lonely man. A gangster who feels unloved and abandoned.

Covered in gold and talking of his promise to his mother, Ranga Annan’s affinity to Rocky Bhai from the KGF world is unmistakable. But Fahadh takes the role seriously, and doesn’t allow it to end up as a predictable spoof. There’s a scene in Aavesham when he’s staring at a red patch of paint on the wall, and he brings so much pathos to the moment that Ranga Annan leaves you feeling destroyed for laughing at him.

Fahadh’s mastery over his craft is evident in how he brings a range within his portrayal of manic characters. He doesn’t let his performance rest on the quirk or eccentricity that’s given to the character, reducing a person to that one trait. Instead, he treats the quirk as a natural part of the character, allowing it to become real to the audience. Here’s a look at how Fahadh has portrayed the deranged, deluded, and demonic in some of his films.

Shammi in 'Kumbalangi Nights': Shammi is such a “complete man” that he can’t tolerate even the presence of a bindi on a mirror that he’s staring at. He looks down upon the feminine, and when his masculinity is threatened, he transforms into a psycho on a killing spree. In Aavesham, his “Eda mone!” refrain has the exuberance of a child. In Madhu C Narayanan’s Kumbalangi Nights, his “Endha moley?” refrain is so creepy that it will make your skin crawl. Fahadh’s strength is his ability to make these characters look so unthreatening, almost comic, and then bludgeon you with a scene where he pulls the carpet from under your feet.

Watch it on Amazon Prime Video.

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