'Used Mark Ruffalo's Hulk as referrence': Faisal Malik on playing Kumbhakarna in Ramayana

Faisal Malik as Kumbhakaran. Pics via Instagram

Nitesh Tiwari's Ramayana is gearing up for release while the buzz surrounding the film continues to grow by the day. Among the multiple things that has intrigued the fans is the cast of the film. One of the most talked about casting choices is that of Kumbhakarna's character being played by actor Faisal Malik. The actor has now revealed how he approached the role defined by strength, adding that he used Mark Ruffalo's portrayal of Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as reference.

Faisal Malik on playing Kumbhakarna

In a recent interview with Variety India, Malik opened up on playing Kumbhakarna in Nitesh Tiwari's magnum opus. The trailers of Ramayana have so far given a good glimpse at the gigantic asura who is Ravana's brother. For the unversed, in the mythological epic, Kumbhakarna is described as 600 bows in height, which implies his height could be around 1800-2400 feet.

Talking about transforming, Faisal said, "We have all seen the Hulk and how Mark Ruffalo becomes the big green guy. That is a reference for me when I started imagining how I would look."

While Faisal is known for playing Prahlad Cha in Panchayat, and his appearances in films such as Gangs of Wasseypur. Ramayana's Kumbhakarna is by far his highest-profile role yet. Talking about the same, the actor added, "My experience of playing Kumbhakarna in Ramayana is a dream come true. We grew up watching Ramayana, so playing a character from it feels like sheer luck. The challenge here is that this world is completely different for me. He isn't a normal human; he's massive, and he was in a deep sleep for six months. To keep all of that in mind and derive a final output is a tricky part."

About Ramayana

Ramayana is produced by Namit Malhotra's Prime Focus Studios in collaboration with DNEG and Yash's Monster Mind Creations and is planned as a two-part film. Helmed by Nitesh Tiwari, it stars Ranbir Kapoor as Lord Rama, Sai Pallavi as Sita, Yash as Ravana, Ravie Dubey as Lakshman, and Sunny Deol as Lord Hanuman.

The first part of the duology is scheduled for worldwide release around Diwali 2026 on November 5, 2026, while the second part is set for Diwali 2027. The films will be released in Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam across India.