Faisal Malik On The Emotional Scene In Panchayat: "Didn't Think I Would Be Able To Pull It Off"

Bollywood actor Faisal Malik is receiving much love for his performance as Prahlad Pandey aka Prahlad Cha in the comedy series, Panchayat. The third season of the show, which premiered on May 28, is making all the right noises. In a conversation with India Today, Faisal Malik got candid about portraying emotional sequences in the second season of the show. Faisal Malik revealed that expressing grief in both seasons “was very tough” for him. When asked how he prepared for Prahlad's grief, Faisal Malik said, “It was a very tough thing to do because it needed to be shot for 6-7 days. And, for the entire 6 months, I was reading it, thinking about what to do, when to do it, how I am going to do it. I had a lot of questions, and besides that, I didn't have the confidence that I would be able to pull it off.”

FYI: In Panchayat's second season, Faisal Malik had to portray a pivotal emotional scene, as Prahlad Pandey loses his son Rahul Pandey, who was in the army. Panchayat 3 begins by exhibiting the same essence, where Prahlad Cha misses his son. Panchayat also features Jitendra Kumar, Neena Gupta and Raghubir Yadav in key roles.

Faisal Malik added, “I asked 1-2 people because it was a very tough scene and its communication needed to be correct. It couldn't be too much or too little, it had to be just right. Only one line was given. Taking that emotion to that point was a little tough, but with hard work, I managed to do it somehow.”

Talking about his Panchayat journey, the actor said, “The journey was fantastic. I don't think we all had imagined this much success and love from the audience. I think all this was by the grace of God. I am thankful to him, and the people who have given this much love and affection (to us).”

During the same conversation, Faisal Malik confessed that “there is about a 60-40 ratio” that he relates to his character Prahlad Pandey in reality.

The actor also revealed that he along with his co-stars did many rehearsals to bring perfect camaraderie between Vikas (Chandan Roy), Abhishek (Jitendra Kumar) and Pradhan ji (Raghubir Yadav). Faisal Malik said, “We have done lots of rehearsals, did a lot of reading in Season 1 itself. By knowing each other in a more personal way, that's how we cracked (the scenes) and now you can see (the results).”

Faisal Malik also spilled beans on how his life has changed after the series. He said, “It's all changed because we didn't even know in 2020 that this show would turn out like this. And it was during the Covid times, so we didn't even know what was going on in the outside world. We got all the information from the Internet that people were praising the show. But, when we came out after COVID, we realised that the public knows each one of us, as in our characters. After that, Season 2 came, it doubled everything, and now with Season 3, you can see how well it is being received.”

Faisal Malik's dialogue “Samay se pehle koi nahi jayega” and the crucial scene where he explains to Damyanti Devi how it feels living in an empty house turned out to be a great hit. 

When asked which of these scenes were his favourite, Faisal Malik said, “Actually, for the first scene, I didn't even know that it would become such a big hit. We did it, and I don't know how...sometimes on the set, just in 2-3 takes, everything turns out well. For the other one (with Damyanti Devi), it required a lot of effort, using the right words for communication to convey that emotion and that thought. And, she is a very senior actor with whom I shot this scene. So, the scene where I took her to my home, that I really like.”

Faisal Malik marked his Bollywood debut with Anurag Kashyap's Gangs Of Wasseypur. Up next, he will be seen in Dedh Bigha Zameen, Jo Tera Hai Woh Mera Hai, Sab First Class Hai and Dating Shating.