Filmmakers SS Rajamouli has spoken about his admiration for Malayalam cinema and actors Fahadh Faasil and Mohanlal during a conversation with the team of Don’t Trouble The Trouble. The filmmaker, who is presenting Fahadh’s upcoming Telugu film, opened up about the Malayalam films he watches, his favourite performances by Fahadh and the acting philosophy he once heard from Mohanlal.

SS Rajamouli on Fahadh Faasil, Trance and Aavesham

While admitting that he does not watch Malayalam films extensively, SS Rajamouli said he has followed Fahadh Faasil’s work closely and has been impressed by the actor’s performances.

“I don’t watch a lot of Malayalam films. Definitely, I have watched a lot of Fahadh’s films. I love his films. Trance has been my all-time favourite and, of course, Aavesham. I always tell him that I love to hate him,” Rajamouli said.

Story continues below.
Subscribe to see fewer ads.

Fahadh then recalled a message Rajamouli had sent him after watching Joji. “I remember you texted me after watching Joji that, ‘You are like a serpent. I want to turn it off, but I don’t know how,’” Fahadh said.

SS Rajamouli also praised the breadth of Malayalam cinema and singled out its writing and acting.

“One of my all-time favourites is Lal sir’s Drishyam. Just two days back, I watched Bro Daddy. I am amazed with the kind of films Malayalam cinema makes. From small films to big films, to socially conscious films, to action, to thrillers. If you ask me one thing that is the highest quality in Malayalam cinema, I will say it is the acting and writing,” he said.

Rajamouli said he is curious to understand Fahadh’s process and how he transforms himself for a character.

Story continues below this ad

“I really want to work with Fahadh to learn how he brings the character into his acting. I want to see that. That is why I want to work with him,” Rajamouli added.

SS Rajamouli recalls Mohanlal’s acting philosophy

SS Rajamouli also shared an anecdote about meeting Mohanlal in Hyderabad. He said he once asked the veteran actor about his process of acting, to which Mohanlal gave him an answer centred on surrendering himself to the character and the universe.

“He said, ‘I will tell you my secret. Just before shooting any film, I go and talk to the universe and say, ‘I know nothing.’ And I mean it with every cell of my body — that I know nothing about acting and nothing about the character. I don’t know anything. I am a part of you. You give it to me.’ I believe it and I do that, and the universe gives it to me,” Rajamouli recalled.

Story continues below this ad

SS Rajamouli on realising Fahadh Faasil’s appeal

Earlier, while speaking at the Don’t Trouble The Trouble pre-release event in Kerala, SS Rajamouli recalled that he had initially assumed Fahadh Faasil’s films appealed mainly to an elite audience.

“Like many people in India, apart from Malayalis, I am a big fan of Fahadh Faasil. I watched many of his films on OTT; I was discovering them one after another. What surprised me was that I always thought there would be some elite films, class films. That was my perception,” Rajamouli said.

He recalled that around five or six years ago, his wife’s 55-year-old cousin, who lives in a small town, visited him in Hyderabad and asked, “Have you seen FaFa’s films?” Rajamouli said he did not even know who “FaFa” was at that point and realised she was referring to Fahadh.

“Then I realised Fahadh Faasil’s reach was not restricted to the elite. People across Telugu land had already known him,” he recalled.

Story continues below this ad

About Don’t Trouble The Trouble

Don’t Trouble The Trouble marks Fahadh Faasil’s first Telugu film as a solo lead. He plays Suri, a street magician and small-time con artist whose world changes after he encounters a young girl, Divya, played by child actor Ssara Palekar.

Directed and written by Shashank Yeleti, the film is produced by Shobu Yarlagadda, Prasad Devineni and SS Karthikeya under Arka Mediaworks and Showing Business, with SS Rajamouli presenting the project.

It also stars Saurabh Sachdeva. The film is set for a worldwide theatrical release on October 2 in Telugu, Tamil and Malayalam.