Hakkim Shajahan interview: ‘I try to give my best to the roles that come my way’

Hakkim Shajahan is among those actors in the Malayalam film industry who have built their careers through small, yet significant roles. It has been a slow and steady growth for the actor who is currently basking in the success of the Malayalam web series Roslin. With some exciting projects lined up for release, including Prithviraj-starrer I, Nobody and Rajinikanth’s Jailer 2, the actor is in an upbeat mood.

The Thodupuzha-native who moved to Kochi with cinema dreams started his career with theatre. His trained at ActLab, the actor’s training academy, where he did a handful of plays. “There are no actors in my family but I wanted to become one and decided to pursue that dream once I finished my graduation. My parents asked me to come back if things did not work out within a year. But nothing happened during that period; yet, I stayed put in Kochi and waited,” he says. Eventually he made his acting debut in Martin Prakkat’s ABCD and later assisted the director in his next work, Charlie.

Hakkim Shajahan
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His patience paid off as he got breakout roles in regular intervals. Starting with the psychopath antagonist in the Tamil movie Kadaseela Biriyani (2021). Then came Pranayavilasam (2023), a heartwarming tale of long lost love. He endeared himself to audiences as Vinod, even though the character did not have much of a screen time.

Last year, we saw him in the OTT space, that too in Hindi, in the critically-acclaimed web series, Black White & Gray: Love Kills, streaming on SonyLIV. In the mockumentary, which pushed boundaries with its making and cast, Hakkim played a taxi driver, Sunny, and the character did not go unnoticed. “I got the role because of my work in Kadaseela Biriyani. I had shoot for only for a few days. But it was exciting to become that naive driver, who stood for the white in the show’s title. The series was unique in so many ways and I was thrilled about being part of it,” he says.

In Malayalam, his first web series was Krishand’s Chronicles of the 4.5 Gang (Sambhava Vivaranam Nalara Sangham). Although he had just a few scenes and no dialogues, Hakkim is grateful that he could work with a director of Krishand’s calibre. “He is so creative and it is so much fun to be around him, listening to his ideas and watching him execute his vision,” Hakkim adds.

And he could not have asked for something better than Sumesh Nandakumar’s Roslin, in which he essayed Jerry, who appears to be the villain until the plot twist in the last episode. The titular character (played by Sanjana Dipu), living with her doting parents (Vineeth and Meena) and kid brother, is troubled by a nightmare in which she is stalked and attacked by a person with green eyes. To her shock, Jerry, who comes to stay with the family for a few weeks, has the same eye colour. Roslin is sure that he is the stalker. As they try to get the better of each other, some mind-boggling truths come out.

Hakkim Shajahan in the web series Roslin
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“The streaming platform had mounted the character in such a way that it piqued everyone’s curiosity. And the reception I got for the role is equivalent to that I would get for a movie. I am so happy that so many people have seen it. It was as if everything was perfect about the series – direction, the cast, performances, the mystery and twist in the narrative, music, cinematography, editing etc. The foundation being Vinayak [lyricist Vinayak Sasikumar]’s writing. The script is the soul of a project. If it is perfect, you can pull off magic on screen,” says Hakkim.

He adds that it was not easy to walk around wearing the contact lens. “The crew would burn things to get the misty effect in certain scenes and then minute dust particles would often get stuck to the lens making my eyes red. Also, one cannot sleep with these lens and so I had to keep taking them out and putting them in each time I wanted to nap,” he says.

Hakkim Shajahan
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Meanwhile, he refuses to reveal anything about his roles in I, Nobody and Jailer 2. “I have a meaty role in I, Nobody. As for Jailer 2, it felt great to be part of such a humungous project, sharing the screen with a bunch of legends, like Rajinikanth sir and Mohanlal sir,” he says.

Looking back, Hakkim states that it was a struggle to find his space as he had no godfathers in the industry. “Even now I do not have the privilege of listening to a lot of stories and choose the best out of those. I try to give my best to the roles that come my way, that’s all. Earlier, I struggled to get into the industry, now the struggle is to survive here,” he says.

The conversation veers to being part of a group in the industry. “I am not part of any. At the same time I do not blame them also. If I have a close circle of friends in the industry I would naturally pick someone from among them for my films because that is my comfort zone. There are several such groups in the industry and I have never tried to be part of any of them. So the good thing is you will find me in projects rolled out by most of them.”

The 34-year-old actor goes on to state that one needs to find his way in the industry. “It calls for persistence, hard work and some smart work,” he signs off.

Roslin is streaming on JioHotstar

Published – April 01, 2026 12:35 pm IST