When Faisal Malik lost a job for being ‘too honest’ with Amitabh Bachchan

Actor Faisal Malik, who is being appreciated for his nuanced performance as vice village head Prahlad in Panchayat series, at an interview told an interesting anecdote of meeting Amitabh Bachchan and how he lost his job because he was too honest with the veteran actor.

In an interaction with The Lallantop, Faisal spoke about how he and director Anurag Kashyap went to meet Mr. Bachchan for a series. “I was half excited because I was getting to meet Bachchan sahab. As soon as I saw him, I thought to hell with the work and I presented my copy to him for an autograph,” Faisal said excitedly.

“The food keeps coming at his house. You wouldn’t be able to finish one dish before they present another. I told him I was from Allahabad and he talked to me. Then he asked if I would have til ke laddu (sesame laddus). I thought he wouldn’t be able to eat it because of his age. Sorry, I shouldn’t say this. But when the laddus arrived, he ate two before me. I thought he is lying about his age; he is still very much young,” he added.

Faisal also said that Mr. Bachchan has an impeccable memory. “He remembered all 120 pages of the script. He even told us there is an error on page 62,” he said. He asked me, “When do you think we should shoot this?” I honestly responded, “Sir, we shouldn’t shoot this now. We should shoot this after six months.” After we finished the meeting and stepped downstairs, I was told, “You don’t work on this project. You leave it,” because I spoke the truth.”

Faisal’s claim to fame was a role as a toady cop in Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur.