There’s a certain authenticity Ali Fazal brings to his characters. His comfort level with playing two extreme characters onscreen speaks volumes about his craft. The 38-year-old actor says it is a very pleasant thing to have opportunities to play such versatile roles. “The director and the story matter. I am glad that Basu da (Anurag Basu) gave me a chance to work in Metro In Dino,” says Fazal.
His versatility stems from his growing-up years and the cinema of that time. He grew up in the Salim-Javed era when commercial and parallel cinema co-existed. “My wife and I sometimes sit and re-watch the classics of Amitabh Bachchan, Dilip Kumar and Shyam Benegal. The golden era will return soon, as there is a need for good cinema and we have good writers onboard,” he adds.
Mirzapur not only made Fazal a household name but also stirred conversations around censorship due to the depiction of extreme violence, sexuality on OTT. Fazal, however, strongly disagrees with the idea of censorship. “There were people like these before OTT came. We should rather self-censor. At the end of the day, it is just good and bad writing,” he says.
Fazal added another feather to his cap last year. Pushing Buttons Studios, founded by him and wife Richa Chadha, hit a six with their maiden production Girls Will Be Girls, winning big in the festival circuit. The lead role played by Preeti Panigrahi in the film received a lot of critical acclaim.“As kids, we were always taught community building and that an artist cannot exist without compassion,” says Fazal. He recalls Suhana Khan’s name coming up in a discussion during the casting of Girls Will Be Girls. “Though we never approached her, we were thinking if her personality would fit the character,” he adds.
His production house is a democratic setup where a team of 5-6 people sit together and brainstorm ideas and are critical of each other. Their upcoming production, Papita, based on Mumbai’s paparazzi , is struggling for finances, and they have decided to go for a theatrical release. “We have opened bids for takers to take the lead on this. It goes on the floors next year,” says Fazal.
Talking about the box office, Fazal says it’s high time he starts to look at more commercial projects as an actor. Fazal has mostly been a part of multi-starrer projects. “I don’t have many box office numbers. So I would love doing more films in theatres as a romantic and commercial hero. It is just that the right opportunity didn’t come up, and I was busy with the international projects. But now I want to shift my focus back here,” he adds.
As of now, Fazal is preparing for Mirzapur, the film and calls it a big risk. He will be next seen in an untitled Amazon Prime Video series with Sonali Bendre, in 1947 with Sunny Deol and Preity Zinta, and the next season of his popular web series Mirzapur.