Long before Fahadh Faasil became known for disappearing into characters, he was simply a filmmaker's son spending his school vacation on a film set. It was there, as a teenager, that he had an encounter with a young Vijay, who was then building his own career as a leading man. Neither could have known how dramatically their professional journeys would change in the years that followed.

Fahadh was around 12 or 13 when his father, Fazil, was shooting Kadhalukku Mariyadhai at their family home. Vijay, who played the lead in the 1997 romantic drama, was working with Fazil at the time. Looking back at that period, Fahadh recalled that their conversations were largely about films, including a project Vijay was planning at the time.

What stayed with Fahadh, however, was something Vijay told him about his own future. Speaking to KS Ravikumar on Behindwoods while promoting Don't Trouble The Trouble, Fahadh said, “Vijay sir was the first person to ask me if I would become an actor.” He recalled that the two did not have any particularly deep conversations then, but cinema was the common thread whenever they spoke.

Fahadh also remembered Vijay discussing Kushi with him while working on Kannukkul Nilavu, another Fazil directorial. “I remember him sharing the idea for Kushi with me. We only talked about movies at that time,” he said. At the time, Fahadh had not yet begun the career that would eventually take him from Malayalam cinema to major roles in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi films.

Despite their long association through the film industry, Vijay and Fahadh have never appeared together in a feature film. They have, however, shared screen space in a jewellery advertisement, giving fans at least one brief glimpse of the pairing.

Today, Fahadh is preparing for the release of Don't Trouble The Trouble, directed by Shashank Yeleti and presented by SS Rajamouli. The film, which also marks his first Telugu outing as a solo lead, is scheduled to release on October 2.