‘Image ke hisaab se roles milte hain’

Ali Fazal has learned several lessons from the pandemic and the lockdown. Most importantly, Fazal says he knows there is life beyond work and he “won’t stop living because something hasn’t worked out”.

“My first film, which was with director Saeed Akhtar Mirza, never released. Next was a Shah Rukh Khan production, which didn’t work. I have done three to four films, jinke naam liye toh bacha hua career bhi nikal jayega ( laughs). Very few people were batting for me as in our industry, image ke hisaab se roles milte hain. There is no risk taking. If an action or comedy works, we see an influx of such films due to herd mentality. Then, the web happened. Guddu’s role in Mirzapur worked, and how! In fact, I was dissuaded from doing a web show, but I stuck to my gut feeling,” he says.

Fazal, 33, believes the insider-outsider debate and conversations on favouritism are “necessary”, adding, “We are all artistes and we can’t hate. Sure, we have major issues, but that is the case with every industry. What we need is a change in the system and structure, especially how technicians are treated at a contractual level. We should talk about equality of pay, inclusion riders, royalty, and make it all legally binding.”

The actor admits he doesn’t strategise his moves, but plans his career, be it OTT, Hindi or English films. Fazal, who got recognition in the West for his role in Victoria & Abdul (2017), adds, “As long as I have a good body of work, it’s all good.”

With a number of movies now releasing directly on the web, Fazal feels it will “level the playing field”. “Without box office collections, no one is a flop on OTT. One could say it’s the slow death of celluloid or the communist era in cinema (laughs). Of course, once theatres open up, things will go back to normal, as nothing beats the magic of a theatre,” he signs off.

We are all artistes and we can’t hate. Sure, we have major issues, but that is the case with every industry.

ALI FAZAL ACTOR