Mayalalam cinema seems to be enjoying one of its best years at the movies with consecutive blockbusters that have also had a cultural impact. Films such as Manjummel Boys and Premalu have become runaway hits while others such as Mammootty’s Bramayugam prove the craft of the industry’s filmmakers. A recent addition to the list is Fahad Faasil’s Aavesham (streaming on Amazon Prime Video) which saw him play Ranga, a larger-than-life Malayali gangster living in Bengaluru.
Be it his white-and-white costume with gold jewellery, his oblivious nature, or his catchphrase ‘Eda Mone’, which has become an internet sensation, Fahadh’s Ranga seems to have won the hearts of cinephiles across the country and is on his way to becoming one of Indian cinema’s most iconic characters.
“The character is someone Jithu [Madhavan, Director of Aavesham] met when he was in college in Bangalore,” Fahadh told Anupama Chopra in an interview. “During the first two weeks of filming, he told me, ‘This guy observes well and if two people are talking, he will observe them and smile’. It’s not used in any part of the film, but Ranga was that. Even if he is not there in a conversation, he is enjoying it. One of the backstories for Ranga was that he is a failed actor. He was a major fan of a particular Kannada actor. But it’s just too much information to pack in.”