Mumbai5 hours agoAuthor: Ashish Tiwari
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After watching the third season of Panchayat, one character leaves a different impression. The character who was seen having fun in the last two seasons, has completely changed in this season. After the death of his son, this character remains lost in himself. We are talking about Panchayat's Prahlad Cha i.e. Faisal Malik.
Faisal Malik has not only played the character of Prahlad Cha but has lived it. He has also gained weight for this. In an interview given to Dainik Bhaskar, Faisal told that when he heard the concept of Panchayat for the first time, he was in a dilemma.
He wondered why anyone would watch a show based on a village background in today's time. However, his mind opened up as soon as he read the script. He liked the story so much that he agreed to work in it without any delay. Now he has impressed so much with his work that he has got a line of phone calls and messages. Because of this, his phone has also crashed.
Let's start the question-answer session with Faisal Malik…
First of all, many congratulations to you. Your series Panchayat is getting a lot of love, what would you say about it?
answer- When the concept of this show came to me for the first time, I started wondering why anyone would want to watch such a story. Crime suspense and thriller shows have been in vogue for the last few years, so there was doubt whether a show based on a village background would be successful or not. However, after the first season, people gave it immense love.
Thinking about this, the makers made the second season as well. The second season was also successful. Now the third season has also come among you. People are enjoying it a lot. I am getting so many messages that my phone has crashed. I have just given it for making.
This time your character is a little more serious than before. After the death of your son, your character is in deep sorrow. Who was it that made you do such scenes?
answer- Death is a bitter truth. It has to happen in everyone's life at some point or the other. My father passed away during Covid. My close friends also passed away. I used to think of them while shooting emotional scenes. Perhaps because of this, acting felt very natural. Whatever I have done, I have done it all by myself. Whatever was coming out of me, the same was visible on screen.
What is similarity between Prahlad Cha and Faisal Malik?
answer- Both are carefree people. Neither of them demands much from their lives. Both Faisal and Prahlad have a sense of service. I respect my friends and relatives a lot in real life too. I always stand up to help them.
How did you prepare yourself for the role of Prahlad Cha? Did you have to learn anything from anywhere?
answer- I am connected to the village. There is a person in the village who is always with Netaji like a shadow. Even if Netaji is called at 2 o'clock in the night, he is found standing there. My character is also like that. My character is largely dependent on Raghu Bhai (Raghubir Yadav who plays the role of Pradhan). Except for one or two workshops, I did not take any training for this. I just got into the role by looking at the people around me.
Tell us about the atmosphere on the set?
answer- There was a great atmosphere on the set. Everyone used to laugh and joke with each other. But on the day when a serious sequence was to be shot, the director would instruct everyone that no one should make any noise. The atmosphere was very strict while filming a serious sequence. Apart from this, there was a lot of fun and frolic on other days.
What did you see in the story of Panchayat that made you agree to work in it?
answer- Usually we see in films that a village boy goes to the city and has to face different problems there. In Panchayat, this thing was the opposite. There, a city boy goes to the village and explores himself. He sees the lifestyle of the village. He also gets introduced to the politics of the village. Seeing all this, I decided that I want to work in this show.
To fit into the role of Prahlad Cha, did you gain weight or did you do some magic through makeup?
answer- No, there is no makeup or anything. I have gained a lot of weight for the role. I used to sleep for only two hours a day. I gained a lot of weight due to the change in my sleep cycle. I even tried using makeup, but it did not give me the same feel.
Tell us something about the shooting location of Panchayat?
answer- It was shot in a village in Sehore, Madhya Pradesh. Where the entire series was shot, no one was visible for miles. Sometimes we would see animals etc. We never faced any problem while shooting. That village had everything from temples to platforms, trees, plants and rivers and ponds. We shot at all these places. There is only one resort in Sehore. All of us actors used to go and stay there after pack up.
What was the atmosphere like on the set with experienced actors like Neena Gupta and Raghubir Yadav?
answer- Both Neena ji and Raghu bhai are very fun loving people. They are the most seniors, but they were the ones who used to laugh and joke the most on the set. Raghu bhai used to sing songs all day long. He used to keep the atmosphere light. The show's director Deepak Kumar Mishra also has a very good sense of humor. He himself is a brilliant actor.
