Two intense, toooooo intense, leading men vied for the OTT space this week. Farhan Akhtar and Fahadh Faasil are separated by several cultural factors. But when it comes to cinema they are both joined at the hip. Here are 5 factors that unite the two fabulous actors.

1. Besides the letter ‘F’, Farhan and Fahadh share a lot in common. They are both method actors. They try to take on only one project at a time and they do not hesitate in going all out to give their characters the right look and emotions.

2. Farhan and Fahadh gained oodles of weight to look their parts in Toofaan and Malik. Farhan had to look like a boxer gone to seed with a potbelly while Fahadh undergoes a number of physical transformations as his character ages from his 20s to his 60s.

3. Both Fahadh and Farhan play Muslim characters from the ghetto who rise to become names to reckon with. Fahadh’s Sulaiman Malik becomes a champion of the downtrodden. Farhan becomes the champ of the boxing ring.

4. Interestingly, both Farhan in Toofaan and Fahadh in Malik play characters based on real persons. They are however seen as fictional characters to avoid any controversies. In conversation with me Fahadh described Malik as a “fictionalized version of facts”. Farhan says , one come across many boxers like Aziz Ali rising from the ashes in and around Haryana..

5. Both Toofaan and Malik were designed for the big screen but have now been released on Amazon Prime Video.