'Paul and Vin would keep cracking up'

RISING STAR

One may remember him as the silent Joy Lobo of ‘3 Idiots’ or the zesty Zafar of Fukrey. But actor Ali Fazal is playing a solo lead for the first time on the big screen in the latest film Bobby Jasoos and couldn’t be happier for the positive reviews he is getting for the film. 

“I’m so glad people are loving it. In fact, people from the industry like Ayushmann Khurrana and Shoojit Sircar have really appreciated the film too,” he tells Metrolife. Ask him if he was nervous and he says, “Not at all. It was a good script. Though it was a woman-oriented film, the male protagonist is not out there just for the heck of it. There is a beautiful romantic angle that simmers through the spine of the film.” 

How was it to work with an established actress like Vidya Balan? “She is a lovely person and we had many workshops together so we warmed up to each other. We can talk and listen to each other for hours and I think that helped our chemistry on screen. In fact, her being a good performer helped me,” he answers.  

Ali has come a long way from the ‘3 Idiots’ days. Ask him if the journey was hard and he says he is thankful to his mentors like Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan. “I don’t belong to a film family so I was lucky to get to work with big stars like them. I worked on a film called Always Kabhi Kabhi, which was produced by Shah Rukh Khan. And of course, I worked with Aamir in ‘3 Idiots’. I am blessed to have had such mentors,” he notes. 

One of his biggest upcoming releases is the world-famous ‘Fast and Furious 7’. It was, of course, a dream come true for Ali. 

“I have never seen that kind of professionalism anywhere else. The sets had the most equipment ever,” he recalls. Having worked with Vin Diesel and the late Paul Walker, Ali has made memories for life. “The team was a bunch of sweethearts. It was amazing to work with director James Wan who has made ‘The Conjuring’ as well. There were times when Paul and Vin would keep cracking up on the sets. In fact, Paul was the last person I met from the crew before coming back. I was very sad to hear about him,” he adds.

On the homefront, Ali is busy with Khamoshiyaan and ‘Sonali Cable’. “Khamoshiyaan is a writer’s story and how he goes from everything to nothing to everything again. It’s about how you start loving someone else only when you shed ‘self-love’,” he notes. While ‘Sonali Cable’, in which he acts opposite Rhea Chakraborty, is a “sweet story set in Mumbai”.

Juggling with so many movies, Ali missed out on the chance to star in the latest season of the popular series ‘Homeland’. 

“In the West, the first thing they ask the actors for is their dates before starting a project. So it was unfortunate that my dates were already booked,” he sums up.