Prahlad has been an imposing figure ever since he appeared in TVF’s Panchayat 3. Dressed in white attire that highlights his slender and pale body, he always has an expression of sorrow on his face. His voice cracks when he tells the District Magistrate, “Nobody will leave before time (No one should leave before time)”, while he tries to stop the premature transfer of Sachiv Ji from Phulera, hits hard. He makes us so concerned about the pain of losing his soldier son that we almost forget we are watching a fictional show and get worried when he is not around for a while.

It is impossible to imagine anyone other than actor Faizal Malik in the role of Prahlad (Prahlad Cha for the youth), the deputy pradhan of the Phulera panchayat and the grieving father of a martyred soldier who has no family. He is a performer capable of both making mediocre material enjoyable and elevating it with effortless charm.

“I kept my performance raw,” Faisal Malik told IndiaToday.in.

Malik says, “We had to make sure that what the person is going through, how his outlook towards life has changed after a certain tragedy and how his life has stopped while everyone around him has moved on in life. He is a person who is fighting with himself. So, I tried to reflect all these emotions through my performance, and I think I succeeded.”

A grieving father who has nothing to look forward to in life is a part that is full of difficulties. The biggest part is melodrama.

Malik doesn’t fall into any of these traps. He walks such a line that despite the melancholy surrounding him, we find ourselves drawn to him. In the scene where he is on top of a water tank in a drunken stupor, he expresses his pain so well that you fear he might take a drastic step.

So, when Pradhan (Raghuveer Yadav) orders Vikas (Chandan Roy) to close the stairs of the water tank, you feel relieved. And when Neena Gupta’s Manju Devi scolds the secretary, Pradhan and Vikas for being busy with their lives and not taking enough care of Prahlad, you want to scold them along with her.

The writer of the show, Chandan Kumar, has given a glimpse of the void in Prahlad’s life through a scene where he is sitting under a tree and drinking alcohol. He refuses to go home as it reminds him of the emptiness in his life.

To bring out the sadness and fatigue in his character, Faisal Malik avoided sleep and gained a few kilos of weight.

Faisal Malik told India Today.in in an exclusive interview, “I gained some weight and did some preparation to make Prahlad look the way he looks. That look of his where he is lying down but not sleeping, that tired look, I worked on that. I discussed it with someone but can’t share details about it. I motivated myself a bit. I slept only for a few hours to maintain the tired look. I couldn’t reach the set fully prepared and fresh.”

Prahlad is nothing like his name – Anand, happiness and ecstasy. However, he is Anand for those whom he calls his own. He makes their problems his own and immerses himself in them to forget the pain hidden in his heart.

The hefty amount of money he receives from the government after his son’s death is what allows him to express his pain. He gives this money to anyone in need, whether it’s old Damyanti, who wants to build a house for her grandson, or Vikas and his wife, who want to expand their family but don’t have the money to raise a child.

(Spoiler alert!) For me, the most impactful scene of Panchayat season 3 is where Prahlad tries to tell Amma (Damayanti), played brilliantly by Abha Sharma, how important it is to have a family to share your joys and sorrows. He takes her to the same house he has always run away from. It hits home when he says that he has all the material happiness in life – a house and a cheque for Rs 50 lakh, but no family member to share this happiness with.

To bring out the emotion of the scene, Faisal Malik took a round of the house before shooting the scene.

“I saw the house for the first time before shooting the scene. I spent some time in the house, took a round of it, which the art director had done a wonderful job on, and sat for a while. Then, it started flowing naturally. Also, the actress who plays Damyanti is a great artiste. When you have a talented artiste, Your efforts are lessened “You don’t have to try too hard. The scene was so beautifully written that it was easy to perform,” Faisal Malik told IndiaToday.in.

Like us viewers, Malik also thinks the scene has a “very beautiful emotion.”

There are very few moments in life that make you laugh and cry at the same time. And, Prahlad gives you one in the fifth episode when he laughs at Pradhan ji’s funny sarcasm on the MLA. That healthy smile on his face reminds you of the teddy bear-like vibe he had in the first and second seasons of Panchayat. What makes this beautiful moment even more beautiful is that Pradhan, Vikas and the secretary know that this joke is not funny, yet they take it forward to increase the joy of watching Prahlad laugh.

The chemistry we see on-screen between these actors is nothing but a reflection of their off-screen friendship.

“To create something great you need a good atmosphere and that atmosphere has been there since the first season. We all work wholeheartedly and take each other along Faisal Malik says about his experience of working in the Panchayat, “We all work wholeheartedly, we walk together hand in hand.”

Even the scorching sun cannot dampen his will to perform at his best.

“The atmosphere on this set is very healthy and positive. Though we shoot in very high temperatures, we all ensure that the atmosphere remains good. There is a lot of sunshine, too much, but now we can’t say anything to the sun, it will come every day to do its work. Malik says, “It is very hot during the shooting. But we cannot complain about the sun. The sun will rise every day and do its work. So we also have to do our work.”

Malik doesn’t take credit for being the heart and soul of Panchayat 3. Instead, he argues, “All good performances are the result of a good team.”

Having grown up watching 90s movies, Prahlad feels like one of our own. He is not a typical Bollywood star, yet he stays in your heart long after you watch the show. Hopefully we get more Prahlads we can root for!