NEW DELHI: Malayalam superstar Fahadh Faasil says he wants the audience to watch his films as soon as they are ready to be released as he believes storytelling being an evolving process can render the content stale if held on beyond a point of time.
That's why the team of his upcoming Malayalam film "Malik", which was primarily designed as an out-an-out theatrical experience, unanimously decided to release the crime drama on the streamer Amazon Prime Video as theatres remained close due to the pandemic.
Faasil, known for Malayalam films "Bangalore Days", "Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum", "Kumbalangi Nights" and Tamil movie "Super Deluxe", said he is looking forward to the film's digital world premiere on July 15.
"I truly believe that every narrative has an expiry date. I'm personally very impatient with my films. I just want people to see it, no matter where they see it.
"They'll experience 'Malik' in a very good quality experience. It's a world premiere with 240 countries streaming it. I'm excited about it," the National Award-winning actor told PTI in an interview.
Written and directed by Mahesh Narayanan, the film chronicles the journey of Sulaiman Malik (Faasil), a charismatic leader bestowed with unconditional love and loyalty from the people of his community who leads a revolution against authoritative forces that try to encroach on the lives of his people.
Two of Faasil's recent films "C U Soon", also directed by Narayanan, and "Joji", directed by Dileesh Pothan, had their digital premieres on Amazon.
"Irul" released on Netflix in April.
While the two platforms -- theatres and streamers -- offer two different experiences to the audience, the actor said the latter marks the beginning of a new culture of convenience, which is advantageous during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
"'Irul' and 'C U Soon' were designed with an intention for streaming that people are sitting with the remote in their hand.
'Malik' was not like that. (But) then again, it's a new culture, new type of convenience."
Faasil, 38, said one must make films they believe in, pandemic or not.
"Nothing should be like in anyone's face. Everyone should do the kind of films they believe in and I don't think it should change for any pandemic or any given situation. You should just shoot what you're excited about. The idea is to entertain and not scare people. In any which way, people should see it like that."
Spanning different time periods, "Malik" is a compelling story of a past ridden with crime, death and pain that is recounted to Freddy, a juvenile criminal, who has been assigned to eliminate his estranged uncle Sulaiman while behind bars.
The team of "Malik" had finished shooting for the film before the pandemic, which served as a scenario for Faasil's "Joji", which was an adaptation of the Shakespearean tragedy "Macbeth".
The most exciting aspect about featuring in the Dileesh Pothan film was the fact it was set during the pandemic, the actor said.
"'Joji' is the present Macbeth. I don't know how many people noticed or discussed the details. The idea is not to make these details evident. But people who picked it up can discuss it. It's just a detail that you give to the audience."
Faasil said the attempt is to not to force anything into the narrative.
"It has to flow. There's a huge difference between raining and pumping water through a mono pump. It has to be organic," he added.
"Malik" will see the actor play the protagonist through different ages -- young, middle-age to old.
Faasil said while the character arc remained the same, the physical transformation came as a challenge.
"But we shot the film in the reverse order. First we shot the old portions, then followed them by the middle age and youth sequences. So we had ample time to work on our looks and transform our body."
It was purely an author-backed role, he said, adding there was a kind of familiarity to the character of Malik.
"I just had to go there and do it. It's all given to you and you just have to do justice to what's given to you. But at some point while I was doing this film, I had this feeling that I've known someone like Sulaiman. I've met him. He could be someone from my family."
This is the actor's third project with longtime friend and director Narayanan after "Take Off" and "C U Soon".
They reunite for his next "Malayankunju", on which Narayanan serves as writer and cinematographer.
Faasil said working with the director is a "matter of convenience" as they are transparent with each other courtesy their friendship.
"We can shoot a film very easily and very fast. We have that vibe, we sort of complement each other. Every time Mahesh pitches an idea, I pick it up like that. I know the film that I'll eventually see. He keeps surprising me. I like Experimenting with him."
Asked if he would like to take up light-hearted dramas or comedies after consecutively playing grey roles, the actor said he would love to do a film in the space of the Hindi blockbuster "Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge" (DDLJ).
"I want to do a 'DDLJ' but this is what I get. In the case of 'Joji' and 'Irul', the character's graph is itself very dark. But 'Malik' is not dark, it's very real."
Produced by Anto Joseph, "Malik" also stars Nimisha Sajayan, Joju George, Vinay Fort, Dileesh Pothan, Jalaja, Salim Kumar, Indrans, Sanal Aman, Dinesh Prabhakar, Divya Prabha and Parvathy Krishna.