Okay, think you must meet Prahlad

Faisal Malik in a still from the show Panchayat. Pic/Twitter

The actor who plays Prahlad - the adorable ‘up pradhan' (deputy) of the de-facto village headman (Raghuveer Yadav) in TVF's path-breaking series, Panchayat - was born Mohammed Faisal Malik. He dropped his first name in school, on his own.

Because Faisal, as his first name instead, would bring ahead his roll number, therefore seating plan during exams, next to friends Gaurav, Karan, Khurram. They could cheat with ease. These juvenile delinquent BFFs from Allahabad used to do ‘group studies' of answer sheets together.

Decades later, it's a given that Malik, 42, would pass the test to play Prahlad in Panchayat (five seasons of which have already been green-lit by Amazon Prime Video).

Malik, in every way, is Prahlad himself - a ‘dildaar', bindaas, tall, portly presence, with a permanent smile on his face, deeply reverential towards those he likes/respects; never taking himself seriously.

You can find him at Versova's WTF - the restaurant and watering hole that attracts mid-level Bollywood, after a hard-day's work, or because there's little ‘real' to do the next day. Gig economies in mass media, like farm jobs, is a seasonal profession - you either work, non-stop; or hustle, full-time.

Malik is actually an independent producer. He put together the series Smoke, with a massive ensemble cast, for Eros Now in 2018. As with journeys of many determined aspirants in Versova, particularly from Hindi heartland, his path naturally crossed Anurag Kashyap's, at some point.

Malik and Kashyap were going to produce India's answer to 24 for Star TV, around 2010. The pilot got shot (with actors like Gulshan Devaiah, Radhika Apte debuting). It didn't get approved. Malik had dipped into his savings. Much earlier, he had lost all his life's possessions, barring his grit, in the July 26, 2005 floods that wiped off his home near Juhu Circle.

Having cut his strong teeth, locally line-producing for tough, global reality shows like The Amazing Race, Ice Road Truckers, Malik found himself in the production department of Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur (GoW, 2012). He obtained permission to shoot at a slaughterhouse, telling his hometown Allahabad's DM, that they were making a documentary film.

The actor, who was to play the local cop in that scene, fainted from the sight of blood. There was no option, but for Malik to somehow fit into the police uniform, its torn parts re-stitched. The DM had already learnt the visiting crew was too huge for a documentary. Before the officials could do something about it, the cast-crew had shot the scene, and scooted off.

Years later, it is this guy in GoW that the Panchayat writer (Chandan Kumar) and director (Deepak Mishra) instantly recalled, and asked the casting agent - "Thana Prabhari, Dhansar, ko dhoondo" - for Prahlad's part.

Of course Malik got noticed, like others in Panchayat (2020), for pulling off the toughest thing in communication - i e to be simple. That too with a village for a setting that had fallen off India's pop-culture map forever.

Malik is a reluctant actor. His brother, a father-figure for him, had actually brought him down to Bombay because he was a rebel without a pause back home, bunking college. There was a gun-fight of sorts as well, which wasn't particularly uncommon in Allahabad. There was no way he could stay back. Guilt persisted. Redemption was essential.

"Bombay teaches you to mind your business, and work hard. Everything eventually falls in place," Malik tells me, as usual, in WTF. His rebelliousness towards family and academics, in particular, stemmed from his "sister of same age" (cousin in a joint family), having died by suicide, because she'd failed the Standard X Board exams. He held the world responsible.

Kailash Kher, Malik's neighbour in Bombay, who was starting out as a professional musician himself, pointed him towards an entry-level job in a TV channel, wherefrom he picked up skills like editing, promo-packaging, etc, doing the graveyard shift.

Malik is currently producing a series with the Malayalam whiz-kid Mahesh Narayanan (Take Off, C U Soon). His father had once hopelessly/caustically offered him R5 lakh in a folded handkerchief, so he can just become a mafia don! He must be proud of him.

Malik's father is no more. He passed away during the second wave of COVID-19. As did 11 of his close relatives, within two weeks! He lost his dog he raised like a son. The climax of Panchayat 2 (2022) is also a death scene - an unusual switch to a tragic drama, for a show that's inherently a light, slice-of-life comedy.

Prahlad loses his only child/son, a soldier, who, like most Indian Army soldiers, is from a village. Having shaved his head for mourning rituals, widower Prahlad locks himself up for three days, until ‘Pradhan Ji', ‘Sachiv Ji' (Jeetendra Kumar), ‘Sahayak' (Chandan Roy) draw him out.

They break down. As do some audiences, in a way that I haven't witnessed any scene evoke this level of universal response. Maybe it's gotta do with how the world itself hasn't sufficiently processed grief/emotion from the 2020-21 pandemic's frightening, merciless death toll. Everybody's lost someone.

Malik's phone hasn't stopped buzzing with crying messages, after the show dropped, May 18. He's quite baffled. "Aisa hi hota hai kya, bhai," he asks me, soaking in the medium's power. Yup, I guess.

Mayank Shekhar attempts to make sense of mass culture. He tweets @mayankw14
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