“For someone who works in theatre, the rehearsal is where you discover everything. It is where magic happens, where the script enters you and becomes part of you.”
― Ali Fazal
“The vibe of London as a city is captivating. It’s both fast-paced and extremely rushed but still has the calmness that would attract any big-city person.”
― Ali Fazal
“There is good and there is bad, and then there are mothers.”
― Ali Fazal
“Goa isn’t just about tourism and happy faces.”
― Ali Fazal
“I am happy with the way things are turning out for me because it is only my hard work and no one else’s push.”
― Ali Fazal
“We were always a middle-class family who took pride in our little set-up.”
― Ali Fazal
“I have a great connect with the city, and I know the streets of Pune by heart. As a college student, I came down to visit friends. It is a great place to chill and hang out.”
― Ali Fazal
“I see myself and my contemporaries being part of some good work in Bollywood.”
― Ali Fazal
“I have always felt that just to show love, you don’t have to make two people do intimate scenes. That is not the idea of ‘I love you.’”
― Ali Fazal
“’Fast And Furious 7′ was quite random. I remember that it was the first holiday that I took in the entire year. I was in Mussoorie for two days with my friends when I got a call from my international PRs asking me to audition for ‘Fast And Furious 7.’”
― Ali Fazal
“I am a diehard romantic, and I shamelessly accept that. I love writing letters.”
― Ali Fazal
“Mahesh Bhatt has changed me a lot. I used to be very held back with my words. He has made me open up. He has taught me how to say what comes to my mind, just as he does.”
― Ali Fazal
“Cinema has evolved, and it is high time we stop policing it so rigorously.”
― Ali Fazal
“We have to keep pace with changing times.”
― Ali Fazal
“In Bollywood, the film’s stakes are as high as the actor. In Hollywood, they are way above, and the day we realise this in our industry, we will start appreciating actors.”
― Ali Fazal
“I love ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’ and ‘Dangerous Liaisons.’”
― Ali Fazal
“The cast of ‘Fukrey’ will remain the same in the sequel. But the story is more of a fresh one.”
― Ali Fazal
“Theatre gives me a different high.”
― Ali Fazal
“Theatre is like an actor’s nectar, like how cinema is a director’s medium.”
― Ali Fazal
“I return to the stage time and again to see if I am worth anything.”
― Ali Fazal
“People think that theatre helps, but in my case, it slowed me down. I had to unlearn everything when I went on to a film set.”
― Ali Fazal
“I have looked up to Emraan Hashmi from day one.”
― Ali Fazal
“It was great working with Paul Walker and Vin Diesel.”
― Ali Fazal
“The better the actor I am acting with, the better my performance gets.”
― Ali Fazal
“I am in love with stories of underdogs.”
― Ali Fazal
“It is very nice to have good actors with you.”
― Ali Fazal
“Actors are dumb when they get insecure of their co-stars. A lot of actors do. When there is a good actor, they’re like, ‘Oh, he’s eating up the part.’ That’s stupid.”
― Ali Fazal
“One has to get rid of his inhibitions, being an actor.”
― Ali Fazal
“I don’t regret leaving ‘Homeland,’ because I wanted to work with the Bhatts. The dates were clashing, and I had to make a choice.”
― Ali Fazal
“My first preference is Bollywood and will always be.”
― Ali Fazal
“’Fast & Furious’ is Hollywood’s ‘Dabangg.’ It is that big there, so it obviously feels amazing to have played a part in it. The role is small but very interesting. People will see me in full Hollywood accent, and the character is not like typical Indian character.”
― Ali Fazal
“I don’t see a full-fledged career in Hollywood. I am happy with the cameos. Even Tom Cruise will only do special appearances in our films; he wouldn’t do a full hero movie. But it’s good to act in different cinema.”
― Ali Fazal
“The first thing that I see in a woman are her eyes. Sorry, it sounds shallow, but eyes say a lot about a person.”
― Ali Fazal
“When you first meet someone, it’s always about one-upmanship. The couple tries to impress each other.”
― Ali Fazal
“Doing less films is sometimes intentional, but sometimes things just don’t work out.”
― Ali Fazal
“In the beginning, I was doing whatever came my way. But that’s how life is. I am not sitting around calling a ‘daddy’ to make a movie for me.”
― Ali Fazal
“I never thought I would do something in Hollywood after I started with a series in the West, which was a small stint.”
― Ali Fazal
“Hollywood has realised that we do have actors and are not just mad about song and dance.”
― Ali Fazal
“I was doing theatre when somebody noticed me and referred me to Raju Hirani. And Raju saw me on camera, and there, I was a heavy guy with long hair. But I got selected for the role of Joy in ‘3 Idiots.’”
― Ali Fazal
“I am the first one in my family to become a part of Bollywood.”
― Ali Fazal
“I don’t believe that you can learn acting in a classroom.”
― Ali Fazal
“I am learning the grammar of acting on the sets. And I am happy that way.”
― Ali Fazal
“I think every filmmaker has his way of working, and I respect that.”
― Ali Fazal
“Hollywood has got technology, method, and discipline.”
― Ali Fazal
“As an actor, your job is half done when your co-star becomes your friend, especially when it’s Judi Dench.”
― Ali Fazal
“Judi Dench, apart from the name and fame, is the most genuinely hilarious, sophisticated, and loving person I have known. And I mean all of that together at once. That’s something.”
― Ali Fazal
“I’m living my dream.”
― Ali Fazal
“I have stepped into a bigger league with ‘Khamoshiyaan,’ and I am grateful to Mahesh Bhatt sir. I am also grateful to myself for being patient.”
― Ali Fazal
“I have never really had a goal to be a true blue movie star, unlike a lot of my colleagues.”
― Ali Fazal
“I know where I am headed and how will I evolve. There’s nothing stopping you. I don’t have a family background on films, and I will need to work for it.”
― Ali Fazal
“I was offered a role in the series ‘Homeland,’ which I couldn’t do because the dates clashed with my film with the Bhatts – ‘Khamoshiyan.’ But I wish I had done it. Look at how much notice the series got Nimrat Kaur.”
― Ali Fazal
“Movies have been great, but theatre is home. I’ve never been able to compare the two because they are different, special worlds. I’m just lucky to have a place in both.”
― Ali Fazal
“’Fukrey’ was a major turning point of my career because it was post this film that I started getting lead roles in films like ‘Bobby Jasoos.’”
― Ali Fazal
“With every project, I have to grow.”
― Ali Fazal
“Working on a particular look doesn’t make you a serious actor.”
― Ali Fazal
“I am not into method acting.”
― Ali Fazal
“I am very impulsive when it comes to experimenting with my looks and love playing with ideas by involving people from all walks of life.”
― Ali Fazal
“I think action, as a genre, is every actor’s dream.”
― Ali Fazal
“I think, in all this race and competition, we actors forget how to have fun.”
― Ali Fazal
“I am humbled at the fact that I always get great support and reviews from my critics, but it’s the film that requires to be good enough for it to work.”
― Ali Fazal
“Scripts and directors make great actors, not the other way around.”
― Ali Fazal
“I think sometimes a part requires more than one approach or thought.”
― Ali Fazal
“I think the larger productions in India are very methodical and pretty much on the ball in terms of work. When I say work, I mean pre-production and the homework that’s required.”
― Ali Fazal
“In Bollywood, we are told exactly what to do and how to do it and not to counter things by saying there’s a better way. We make our actors feel important by paying them more. But the real deal is when you let the actors take some decisions on the sets.”
― Ali Fazal
“It’s horrible when actors say that they are apolitical.”
― Ali Fazal
“Every frame of every film is from a particular time. So, if you make a film in 2017, the times can’t not have a bearing.”
― Ali Fazal
“I am not going to disconnect from Bollywood or sacrifice my career in the industry for international projects. Everything began here, and I respect that.”
― Ali Fazal
“I think it’s fun to own a wardrobe and have loads of clothes.”
― Ali Fazal
“Women are really scrutinised for what they wear.”
― Ali Fazal
“Maybe one day, I will go to Pakistan and meet these fans who like me and my work. At the end of the day, we are all the same, and meeting my fans there is something that I have on my mind.”
― Ali Fazal
“I didn’t know I had a fan base on the other side of the border. I thought that since actor Ali Zafar is from Pakistan, the fans might have mistaken me for him. Eventually, I realised that they have liked my work, and that feeling sunk in.”
― Ali Fazal
“We can’t stop people from thinking what they want to.”
― Ali Fazal
“I got a chance to work with Judi Dench in almost every scene. How many Indian actors get that chance?”
― Ali Fazal
“I got a chance to work with so many stalwarts from British cinema. Judi Dench, of course, who is a legend. Then there was my director Stephen Frears. He is the man who made some of British cinema’s salient trendsetters.”
― Ali Fazal
“I like to mix things up.”
― Ali Fazal
“I ask my close friends to give me feedback.”
― Ali Fazal
“You will stand out if you do your part well.”
― Ali Fazal
“Playing a real-life character is a challenge and a huge responsibility.”
― Ali Fazal
“I don’t think stardom will ever go to my head.”
― Ali Fazal
“Any actor who says he does not like so many people shouting his name would be lying.”
― Ali Fazal
“I love the kind of work I am bringing to the table.”
― Ali Fazal
“While everyone usually turns up late at Bollywood parties, I always reach these places on time and end up making a fool of myself.”
― Ali Fazal
“I was shooting for ‘Bobby Jasoos’ when I was offered ‘Khamoshiyan.’”
― Ali Fazal
“Actors have a social responsibility.”
― Ali Fazal
“’Victoria and Abdul’ will surely tickle the hearts of many and prove that love has no definition. It can be pure and priceless.”
― Ali Fazal
“Kurt Russell… he is a bloody legend. I have idolised him, and to chill with him on the sets while shooting was an incredible experience.”
― Ali Fazal
“Tom Hanks is one of my favourite actors… I definitely want to work with him.”
― Ali Fazal
“Robert De Niro… I had a chance to meet him, and I hope to get to work with him one day.”
― Ali Fazal
“My grandfather was a civil servant. He was honest, so it would be unfair to say we enjoyed the perils of richness.”
― Ali Fazal
“Mothers are the only ones that think nothing is beyond their control when it comes to their children.”
― Ali Fazal
“I am seldom home, as I keep travelling because of work.”
― Ali Fazal
“When someone’s good, my job becomes easier.”
― Ali Fazal
“I am really excited to be signed on by Julian Belfrage Associates, who manage some of the best talent out there, and I am really excited for this new dimension and beginning.”
― Ali Fazal
“I want to settle down.”
― Ali Fazal
“I remember I was at a press conference where somebody came up to me with absolute confidence, like he knew me forever, and whispered in my ear, ‘You should sing a song now. The Indian audience will enjoy it. Your songs will improve India and Pakistan’s relations.’ I clarified to him that I wasn’t Ali Zafar.”
― Ali Fazal
“Everyone is using the Internet for almost everything – trailers, ads, movies, and short films. This is the only thing that will reach everybody in the world.”
― Ali Fazal
“A film can reach only the places which the distributor has promised you. Several films are not released internationally, and Web has that wide reach.”
― Ali Fazal
“Now, there doesn’t have to necessarily be a white man in the lead role. That’s the way forward. That’s diversity. It’s cool if an Indian is playing the lead role in a Hollywood project, and we should be proud of this.”
― Ali Fazal
“I was offered to play an Italian part in an Italian film. Although I could not take it up because I did not have the time, the kind of characters being offered to us are changing.”
― Ali Fazal
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