‘I want to experiment with different roles’
GARAVI Gujarat caught up with rising star Alaya F to discuss her impactful beginning, latest film and future hopes. The world went into lockdown shortly after your debut film released, how would you describe that journey?
I think post lockdown, any semblance of a formula went out the window, because suddenly we’re finding ourselves in an industry that’s so different, where everyone is trying to understand new trends, what is working and what’s not. So, it’s been weird, but exciting. I’m a strong believer that everything happens for a reason, and I am happy with where I’m at now. Three years into my career, but only two films old. I feel my career is finally starting now. So, my first few years have been unique, testing, interesting and full of growth and learning. Is it a coincidence that you have selected projects that are dramatically different from one another?
I have very intentionally tried to do that because I don’t want to get stuck in a certain type of film. It’s too early on in my career for that. More than that, I think there are wonderful roles being written for women now, and great scripts with interesting subjects out there. I’ve been very fortunate they have come my way. I wanted to do films in different genres, and luckily those opportunities have come my way. I hope to continue doing that. Could you tell us about the experience of
working on your recent film Freddy?
It was amazing. I’ve been having unique experiences that I probably wouldn’t have anticipated. I was shooting for U-turn on a long 45-day schedule in Chandigarh when I got Freddy.I returned from Chandigarh and was supposed to be on the sets of the filmthe next day, so had no prep time whatsoever. I sort of just threw myself into it because it was a great opportunity. I was like, let’s just go for it and do my best. And that’s what I did. I was just surrounded by the most amazing, talented, wonderful, warm, supportive people. They really helped me find the character and my place in the story.
Tell us about your new film Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat?
Almost Pyaar was supposed to be my first film. I had signed it before Jawaani Jaaneman. It just so happened that it took us over four years to make. So now it’s coming out as my third film. So that’s why Almost Pyaar is incredibly special to me. It really has been a labour of love. Every-one has just put their heart and soul into the film. It gave me a lot of belief – it made me realise I can get a film and someone like Anurag (Kashyap) sir believing in me, gives you a different level of confidence. Tell us about the story and your character in the film?
There’s not much I want to say yet because I feel like the film should talk for itself. I don’t think I should tell you about the character because it will spoil a lot of it.
What is your favorite moment from the making of the film?
It was at the shooting in Dalhousie, for one really important scene. All through the shooting, I was dreading it because it was very difficult. On the day we were supposed to do this scene, the weather was terrible, and we had literally two takes to get it right. It was a high-pressure moment on an incredibly difficult scene. I did the monologue once and the camera didn’t even cut. Anurag sir said, ‘do it once more’. I remember the second Anurag sir called cut and him jumping up excitedly with joy. He gave me a hug and said, I’ve got my film. Everyone on the set was just so elated. It was one of those moments as an actor, you feel so proud of yourself just by seeing how happy you’ve managed to make everyone working on this film. So that’s an incredibly special moment to me. What can we expect from your forth-coming film U-turn?
You can expect a lot of thrill. U-turn is a gripping film. I think everyone’s going to be on the edge of their seat. I feel like every film I’ve done has been such a labor of love with all these people just really wanting to make it be the best it can be. And the film is definitely one of those. I think it’s really going to entertain and thrill people. What kind of projects do you want to do in the future?
Luckily for me, I’m getting varied and versatile projects. I’ve been very fortunate with projects I’ve been getting and want to continue that. I want to keep dabbling in different genres and experimenting with different roles, and just constantly learning and growing. I feel like I have just so much hunger in me, so much to prove, and so much to do. I sort of want to do everything.