Fahadh Faasil says audience will see a new side of his character in Allu Arjun's Pushpa The Rule: ‘He is prepared now’

Fahadh Faasil tells what new things should audience expect of his character Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat in the Allu Arjun-starrer Pushpa: The Rule.

Fahadh Faasil has been one of the most bankable actors in the past one year. Two of his films--Pushpa The Rise and Vikram--have been massive box office successes, while his other release Malayankunju has earned rave reviews. Fahadh will be reprising his characters from Vikram and Pushpa in the films’ sequels with Pushpa 2 releasing before this year ends. In an exclusive chat with with HT, Fahadh opened up about how his characters Amar and Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat shape up in Vikram 2 and Pushpa: The Rule respectively.

Fahadh Faasil as SP Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat in Pushpa: The Rise.

Fahadh says he does not see reprising his roles as repeating anything. “In Vikram, Amar’s conflicts will keep changing. Once the conflict changees, the pattern of playing it around changes. Next time, Amar will be different,” he says.

With Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat, the villain of Allu Arjun’s Pushpa film series, Fahadh managed to play a whacky, eccentric character, something he has never done before. Talking about his extended cameo in part 1, Fahadh says, “In Pushpa, you have just met Bhanwar Singh Shekhawat. You haven’t discovered him. There is so much to learn and discover about him. That was just a teaser.”

Fahadh wasn’t originally supposed to even be in the film. Director Sukumar had conceived his character as the villain of the second film but decided to introduce him in part 1 at the very last minute. “My character was supposed to come in the second part. One morning Sukumar sir (the director) called me and said, ‘I want to give a teaser’. I was initially to do one scene which eventually became two and a half scenes. I have not done a character like that, a whacky character,” says Fahadh.

Ask him what new aspect of Shekhawat we will see in Pushpa: The Rule and Fahadh smiles before responding, “As far as Pushpa is concerned, people have just met him. You are going to experience him in the next part. Everything you will see about him will be new. He is not where you left him. He is prepared now. Wait for it!”

Pushpa The Rule also stars Rashmika Mandanna apart from Fahadh and Arjun. The Sukumar-directorial will be released in theatres sometime this year. Fahadh will also return to the Lokesh Cinematic Universe, of which Vikram is a part, as his character Amar. However, it is not yet known in which film and when his character will be seen next.