“As a kid I wanted to be a cricketer and my entire childhood I spent playing cricket and did not think of anything else apart from being a cricketer. Drama, theatre were just extra curricular activities in school for me. I was very good at sports. I was a runner in school, short put specialist, I used to do javelin throw and I was good at cricket. I played cricket at state level. But during a tournament in Hyderabad I injured myself. I spent my entire childhood playing cricket but an injury forced me to stay away from it for three years. I tore my ligament from my ankle to the knee. It took me around three years to get back again and start running. In that process of recovery, I stopped playing cricket and got involved with drama and theatre,” said the actor.
Talking about his journey, Fahmaan shared how he got attracted towards acting, “That’s when the tables turned. I always knew I was never made for a 9-5 job, because I was an average student but I was never interested in studies. The only subject I liked was English. I was part of theatre and would do readings in Bangalore. I used to be a substitute and would take the place of an actor in case someone was absent. From there I developed a liking for theatre on a personal level. There was a point when I realised that if I have to make it big I had to go to Mumbai. I would have loved to be a part of the Kannada industry also but didn’t know how to get into that industry. I also felt if I stay away from my family, I’ll be able to work harder and have the freedom to do what I want to do.”
Being a public figure is not easy and it comes with its share of ups and downs. When asked about how he handles trolls, Fahmaan said, “Positivity is something that you inculcate very organically. I am like my father, he has always taught me to be positive no matter what the outcome of the situation is. If you start taking things negatively, you won’t be able to deal with it and will go into a shell. Trolling is part of our profession. I won’t get only positive comments, butterflies and rainbows to see, I will also go through snakes and negative comments. One should know how to deal with them. I really don’t pay attention to these things. I don’t let anything affect me in terms of negativity and at the same time I don’t let positivity hit my head. You need to have your head on your shoulders and be grounded.”
The 32-year-old actor credits his character Aryan Singh Rathore from Imlie for making him confident as a performer, “The biggest thing I’ve got from Imlie after playing Aryan Singh Rathore is that I’ve become confident as an actor. ASR was a character which could easily become monotonous because he didn’t have emotions or rather didn’t show emotions. I had to have a flat face and there was one emotion that he carried all through his journey. But to show variation in that was tricky. A lot of people who worked with me during that time told me that my character had all the reasons to get monotonous. But because I got confidence I could change every scene’s emotions to a certain extent. It gave me confidence and with that came a lot of responsibility as I had to continue to perform in a better way next time. Also when you get love from the audience even that is responsibility and I had to be on my toes after a point. I think Aryan Singh Rathore did that to me and it taught me that I can be a better actor,” he concluded.
