He’s done it all — the ramp, the ad, the television and now he’s blazing on the big screen. Zulfi Syed, model-turned-actor, says working towards becoming an actor wasn’t easy at all.
Zulfi, who walked the ramp as showstopper for one of the fashion shows in the City recently, took time off to chat with Metrolife about his career in modelling and in the film industry.
Debuting in the film industry with Pyaasa where he and Aftab were cast opposite Yukta Mukhi did not give Zulfi a head start. “It didn’t really click but it gave me a grounding in films. I believe an actor must be versatile. I have played a lover boy, the good and the bad guy. I am now all set to play a negative role in an action film,” Zulfi says and adds, “Why is that people think good-looking men are meant only for romantic roles? I want to break that notion.”
Talking about his experience of working in Taj Mahal where he played Shah Jahan, Zulfi says, “It was tough. I had to talk, walk and behave like a man from a different time. I had to learn horse riding, speak faultless Urdu which I did in two months "
Zulfi says real life stories excite him. “I always make an attempt to study the character and try to cull out details like where the character came from, his childhood what his growing up years were like… this helps me perform better,” he observes.
While commercial cinema has its ardent followers, Zulfi points out that low budget films like Bheja Fry, Tere Bin Laden have done extremely well. “Their cast comprise unknown faces but what clinched their success was a strong script. The success of any film depends on a strong script,” he says.
Zulfi says he hates to rush into films. He’d like to take it slow and do one film at a time, “it’s always better when you do one film and excel in it rather than switch from one film to another,” he says.
In fact Zulfi started out with a Kannada film O Mallige with Ramesh Aravind, “I would always like to act in a Kannada movie whenever a good script comes my way. I must say that Kannada films have become so much more stylish and the subjects have more substance in them. Being a Bangalorean, Kannada cinema is close to my heart,” he signs off.
