
Fahadh Faasil spills tea on his equation with Kamal Haasan: ‘We crack jokes for two, three hours'
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter recently, Fahadh Faasil revealed how he and Kamal Haasan end up spending a good 2-3 hours cracking jokes whenever they meet up. Their topics of conversation are nowhere close to the films the Pushpa 2 star highlighted.
He shared, 'When Kamal sir and I meet, we crack jokes for like two, three hours. It's got nothing to do with cinema. It's mostly about what's going on and around.'
Is Fahadh Faasil curious about Kamal Haasan's style of acting?
Moving on in the same interview, Fahadh Faasil shares how he has never once chatted with Kamal Haasan while asking about the latter's style of craft and acting. The Aavesham actor mentioned that he only prioritises spending time with the Tamil senior icon.
In his words, 'There has never been a moment where I could ask him: 'Sir, how did you do that shot?' But spending time with him, I understand how he did it. I totally understand how he took a call, why he didn't do it and why he did it.'
Fahadh Faasil spilled the beans on his retirement plans
In another excerpt from the same interview, Fahadh Faasil had also opened up about his retirement plans, if he has any.
The Malayalam actor referred to his recent visit to Barcelona, which gave him the idea of becoming a taxi driver.
In his words, 'Yeah, yeah. Of course. We were in Barcelona a few months back. I still very much think about it. I think that'll only happen once people are done with me, you know?'
He adde,d 'Jokes aside, but just the idea of driving someone from one place to another, I think that's a beautiful thing. At least you're witnessing someone's destination.'
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Indian Express
28 minutes ago
- Indian Express
When Dhanush revealed Aanand L Rai put in his own money to hire him for Raanjhanaa: ‘They didn't have the right kind of budget for me'
Dhanush, a force to reckon with in the Tamil film industry, made a memorable Bollywood debut with Aanand L Rai's 2013 romantic drama Raanjhanaa. He played Kundan, a Varanasi boy who goes from being an unrequited lover to a key political voice in New Delhi. The actor revealed last month on the film's 12th anniversary that he almost didn't do the film because of budgetary constraints. 'At that time, they didn't have the right kind of budget for hiring me as the lead actor. But this man's (Aanand L Rai) passion was so strong that he just wanted me to play Kundan. He could have offered any actor this part and they would have happily come on board. After all, it's such a great part,' said Dhanush at a special fan screening of Raanjhanaa. 'But he went against all odds. I don't know I am supposed to say this and I don't care! He invested his own money as well. He went all out (to cast me). He saw Kundan in me and he stayed true to his vision,' added Dhanush. The actor confessed that he didn't feel as nervous on his debut Tamil film as he did on his first Hindi film, for the same reason. 'I was not scared during my first film. When I was written off, I was not scared. That's how I am. But for the first time, I was scared. I felt responsible. So, I was praying so hard to God that 'Somehow save this man,'' said Dhanush, adding, 'They made a cult classic. It is not the story of Kundan and Zoya. It is the story of two mad men who believed in this.' Also Read: Eros denies Aanand L Rai's stand on re-release of Raanjhanaa, says using AI to present 'a respectful creative reinterpretation' of original Raanjhanaa also stars Sonam Kapoor, Abhay Deol, Swara Bhaskar, and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub. Last year, in an interview with Bollywood Hungama, Aanand L Rai also revealed he initially planned to cast Ranbir Kapoor for Kundan's role. 'An actor who keeps himself simple and lets himself blend into the crowd, which is a difficult thing, I believe Ranbir Kapoor is like this, but he was not available at that time and as we were searching for such an actor, we found Dhanush,' said Rai, who went on to collaborate with Dhanush in the 2021 film Atrangi Re and the upcoming movie Tere Ishq Mein, which is from 'the same world as Raanjhanaa.'


Indian Express
28 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Is Dulquer Salmaan doing something astonishingly right in Telugu that he can't seem to replicate in Malayalam?
There was a time when Dulquer Salmaan soared higher than any of his contemporaries in Malayalam. Almost anything and everything he touched turned into gold. Even when he stumbled once in a while, Dulquer bounced back with stellar force, repositioning himself at one of the top spots pretty soon. However, that hasn't been the case for the past few years. I am not insinuating that he has completely lost his fan base, clout or even suggesting that he has lost his touch. But a series of poor decisions and misjudgments have indeed taken a toll on his base in Malayalam, which, once lost, is not easy to regain, considering that the audiences are quite fastidious and pernickety. As he's the son of Mammootty, one of the biggest stars in Malayalam cinema history, there's nothing wrong with describing Dulquer Salmaan as 'one of the biggest nepo kids in the industry'. While outsiders with no godfathers or any prior connection to the show business have to toil endlessly to even land roles that get their faces registered in the minds of audiences, Dulquer undoubtedly benefited from his father's legacy to receive a debut film. And much like most other nepo babies, he received the lead role in his first film. However, what set him apart was the kind of movie and role he chose to commence his journey with. Director Srinath Rajendran's Second Show (2012) was not just a unique noir gangster film, but it leaned significantly towards the emerging aesthetics and narrative style of that era, characterised by the unfiltered portrayal of grey in both people and society at large. Revolving around a group of young perpetual-troublemakers who eventually get involved in organised crimes, Dulquer played a character, Lalu, who wasn't noble and pure-hearted, nor instantly likeable in the movie. In a way, Lalu can be called the anti-hero of Second Show. But since the film did not feature any virtuous characters and it was a story of raw, unpolished people, among them, Lalu was the lesser evil. Although the movie became a hit and Dulquer's performance opened to widespread acclaim, the risk he took here cannot be overlooked. Take the case of Bollywood nepo kids like Agastya Nanda, Khushi Kapoor, Suhana Khan, Ibrahim Ali Khan, Aaman Devgan, Rasha Thadani or even the latest sensation Ahaan Panday of Saiyaara, who made their debut in recent years. Not just that they were projected as stars or sure-shot stars even before their debuts, through massive PR stunts, they all played in their respective first outings characters that were carefully sutured to make people instantly develop an affinity towards them. Whether these efforts yielded positive results for all of them or if these actors' performances matched the monstrous levels of hype they received is a different topic altogether. But a closer look at the characters they all played would lay bare the master plan. The same can be said about the major nepo kids of Dulquer's generation in Malayalam as well. From Fahadh Faasil and Prithviraj Sukumaran to Pranav Mohanlal, Kalidas Jayaram, Kalyani Priyadarshan and Vineeth Sreenivisan, most of them made their acting debuts playing good-natured characters, with the only exceptions being Indrajith Sukumaran and, to some extent, Keerthy Suresh. But Dulquer took on a character, if not executed properly, could make people loathe him completely. And considering that Second Show was Srinath Rajendran's directorial debut as well, the risk was even greater. Nonetheless, all of them emerged with flying colours. Subsequently, Dulquer kept delivering bangers after bangers, mostly playing characters that were tailor-made for him in movies like Ustad Hotel, ABCD: American-Born Confused Desi, 5 Sundarikal and Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi. When he attempted to break out of his comfort zone and try his hand at something new in Theevram, it didn't get much reception from people, although his efforts didn't go unnoticed. Despite facing setbacks with movies like Pattam Pole, Salalah Mobiles, Samsaaram Arogyathinu Haanikaram/Vaayai Moodi Pesavum and Njaan, he took no time in making a comeback with Bangalore Days, Vikramadithyan, 100 Days of Love, Charlie and Kammatipaadam. Meanwhile, he also won over the hearts of Tamil audiences with his striking performance in Mani Ratnam's OK Kanmani, where his breathtaking chemistry with Nithya Menen received the most appreciation. With Jomonte Suvisheshangal, Comrade in America, Parava (where he played an extended cameo) turning out to be massive box-office successes, Dulquer cemented his position in the industry. But that was 2017. Since then, Dulquer's Malayalam career has been a rollercoaster ride. While most of his films failed to impress audiences, their frequency also declined significantly due to various factors, including more lucrative offers from other industries. After the underperformance of Solo, he returned to Malayalam cinema only a year and a half later with Oru Yamandan Premakadha, which became a critical and commercial disaster. Soon, he began working on the biographical period crime thriller Kurup, helmed by Second Show's Srinath Rajendran. Made on a massive scale, it was unlike anything DQ had done till then, and he tried to give it his all. In between, he also worked on the small-scale project, Varane Avashyamund (2020). Although the movie was a success, it didn't offer him quite enough to regain what he had lost. Barring a cameo in the disappointing Maniyarayile Ashokan, which he bankrolled too, Dulquer had no other movie that year. Thus, all began waiting for Kurup, and it arrived in November 2021 with a bang. Not just that the movie was a critical and commercial success, DQ also showcased his untapped potential by masterfully playing fugitive Sukumara Kurup without diluting any of the real-life person's vileness. Despite his next, Salute (2022), also earning favourable responses, since it had a direct-to-OTT release owing to the Covid situation, DQ's box office base here was affected once again. Although his non-Malayalam films like Hey Sinamika, Sita Ramam and Chup: Revenge of the Artist were released in Kerala too, the desire for fans to watch a Dulquer movie in theatres kept getting delayed. The biggest blow of all came when his much-anticipated and massively hyped gangster drama King of Kotha (2023) tanked at the box office and became a meme goldmine eventually. It's been almost two years since King of Kotha now, which means he hasn't had a single success in his home ground in about four years. However, amid all these, he found success in Telugu. There too, he received an enviable debut, playing Gemini Ganesan in Nag Ashwin's biographical drama Mahanati. Delivering an extraordinary performance and that too as a yesteryear star, he quickly won over the audience's hearts. Hanu Raghavapudi's period romantic drama Sita Ramam was just what he needed after that to take him to lofty heights. With the movie capitalising fully on both his charm and cuteness, and his mesmerising on-screen chemistry with co-actors, particularly women, it gave him the sort of push that his Malayalam movies weren't offering him. Considering that Dulquer had more arrows in his quiver than most of his Telugu peers — many of whom were also more fixated on larger-than-life mass entertainers — DQ was quickly crowned their heartthrob by Telugu audiences, who had been desperately searching for one. Unlike in Malayalam, where he struggled amid actors who were arguably far more talented, and burdened by his own ambitions fueled by the excessive expectations of his fans, DQ cherry-picked the best of the guy-next-door roles in Telugu and experimented with them whenever possible. In Venky Atluri's Lucky Baskhar (2024), he found the best mix of both, and Dulquer managed to bring out his A-game effortlessly, contributing to the period crime film's massive success. The reception that his cameo appearance in Kalki 2898 AD received in the Telugu market, and the disappointment of the audience over his role being too small, further underscored the space DQ has managed to carve in the hearts of Telugus. A post shared by Dulquer Salmaan (@dqsalmaan) Interestingly, his performance in Lucky Baskhar also earned him the Special Jury Award at the Gaddar Telangana State Film Awards, presented by the state government to recognise excellence in Telugu cinema. Later, he met with Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy in Hyderabad to express his gratitude for the honour. As a result of all these, despite his next outing, Aakasam Lo Oka Tara, being only in its pre-production stage at the moment, expectations are high among the audience already. For an actor with a massive fan base in his home turf, staying away from it for so long — especially after delivering a major disappointment — is no small move. It remains to be seen whether this has affected his box office pull. For that, we will have to wait for Dulquer's next, RDX director Nahas Hidhayath's I'm Game, to find out. Nonetheless, if he manages to replicate in Malayalam what he's been doing right in Telugu, DQ's journey back to the top may not take long.


Time of India
39 minutes ago
- Time of India
'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' box office collections day 3: Pedro Pascal's film gains momentum over weekend; mints Rs 19.60 crores in India
'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' opening weekend saw impressive numbers. The movie starring (other actor's names), earned around Rs 7 crore net on its third day (Sunday) across India. As reported by the Sacnilk website, the total three-day India net collection stands at ₹19.60 crore. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now After a decent Friday opening of ₹5.5 crore and a noticeable 29% jump on Saturday to ₹7.1 crore, the superhero saga maintained its pace on Sunday. English 3D leads the way in key cities The English IMAX 3D version continued to drive the film's box office momentum. The occupancy rates peaked in the evening at 59.12%. Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Pune witnessed evening occupancy rates hovering around 66-68%. Morning shows were relatively tepid at 32.90%, but picked up steadily through the day. The English 3D occupancy across India was recorded at an average of 47.75%. Hindi versions show modest growth The Hindi versions, both 3D and 2D, showed mixed results. While Hindi 3D reached an overall occupancy of 33.95% on Sunday, the 2D version remained subdued with a 21.67% average. Afternoon and evening shows saw the best turnout in both formats. The 3D version reached over 50% occupancy in the evening. Regional versions in Tamil and Telugu contributed modestly to the weekend total. Starring Pedro Pascal, , , Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Julia Garner, 'The Fantastic Four: First Steps' appears to have connected with urban sci-fi fans. With reviews praising the ensemble cast and visual spectacle, the film is now eyeing weekday sustainability. Though its regional draw is limited, the English-speaking audience has turned up in strong numbers—especially for IMAX 3D viewings—laying a decent foundation for the film's Indian run. Let's wait and watch whether the Marvel film will surpass DC's 'Superman' in the coming days in terms of box office collections. The Fantastic Four: First Steps - Official Tamil Trailer