Ali Fazal, the actor who has been part of projects like the Fukrey franchise, Furious 7, Mirzapur, etc, was in Jaipur on Monday. Taking some time off his hectic film promotions and preparations for the Mirzapur sequel, he walked the ramp at a fashion show.
In the aftermath of the Pulwama attack, Ali withdrew himself from an event in Dubai, since he feels the country’s citizens must be in solidarity with the security forces and those who lost their family members in this attack. In a conversation with AFTERhrs, he shared his views on Indo-Pak relations, his favourite genre and more...
Be aware, stay united
While Ajay Devgn announced on Monday that his next, Total Dhammal will not be released in Pakistan, the state of Indo-Pak affairs has also forced Bollywood to ban Pakistani artistes. According to Ali, country comes first in times like these. “Such incidents are quite unfortunate and have led to worsening of relations between the two countries. It’s a delicate matter; we need to realise that the security forces are fighting for us and we need to follow such decisions. Even during demonetisation, everybody turned an economist. The need is to be aware, and stay united,” asserted the actor.
‘Happy to be back’
Visiting Rajasthan reminded the actor of his first visit to Jaipur, “My flight was diverted here and I got to see the city at night. We had a lot of fun, and I ate lots of food at Chokhi Dhani. Its been a while that I came here; the last visit I believe was for Fukrey promotions, and I am happy to be back.” If he had more time, Ali shared, he would have gone to his friend’s place, and diet permitting, sampled more of the local food. “I have been training hard for the Mirzapur sequel, because of which I am on a strict diet so my taste buds need to wait for now,” expressed Ali.
A long way to go...
Ali feels that Bollywood has witnessed drastic changes over the past few years, “Earlier, a lot of people weren’t sure about Mirzapur... And now, everybody wants to do web. Audience now have a wider variety of choices so the content needs to be really good,” he opined. The actor added that he has a long way to go, which keeps him away from being boastful. “I believe in delivering on celluloid, instead of being boastful. I would rather just take a bow... I have to go a long way,” shared the actor who is also part of the Academy Awards team and voted for the final winners at Oscars, which is a major highlight for him this year.
‘Richa is very sweet’
Though he’s happy about all the work that’s coming his way, Ali also hopes to devote more time to loved ones. “I’d like to spend more time with family, especially my mother.” When quizzed about Richa Chadha, with whom he had admitted to sharing a relationship, he shared, “She’s very different from how he seems on the big screen. She’s very sweet and a lot of people don’t know her in so many ways. It feels great, how it started from being friends.”
In love with romance
Having tried his hands at multiple genres — comedy, romance, even action — it is romance that he would love to do more onscreen. “I personally love the romantic genre, but did action for the first time in Mirzapur. Though comedy is my go-to genre, I would like to do good drama films that tell stories. India has such good stories, which have action too,” shared the actor, who was last seen in Happy Phirr Bhag Jayegi on the big screen.
