Shalabh Anand Bajpai (DNA; September 18, 2019)

Ali Fazal walked away with accolades for his turn as Guddu Pandit in the web series Mirzapur. Now, the trailer of Prassthanam has given a sense of déjà vu with its treatment and subject. But Ali says in its defence, “The film’s action may be similar but it is completely different from Mirzapur. I play a highly-educated guy who has studied abroad and comes back to help his father.” While the Fukrey Returns actor plays Sanjay Dutt’s son in his latest outing, he has bagged another biggie — Death On The Nile with Gal Gadot. Ali talks to us about working with the Munnabhai MBBS actor, his date diary being choc-a-bloc and why he and Richa Chadha are not in a rush to tie the knot.

POLITICAL DRAMA WITH A DIFFERENCE
Even though Prassthanam has a political backdrop, Ali emphasises that the film is unlike others in the genre. He explains, “I play the role of Sanjay baba’s son, who is sorted, handles everything on his own and is idealistic enough to take his father’s place. He follows his dad religiously. So, it’s also a family drama, which makes it different from other political films.”

WORKING WITH SANJAY
Apart from having an important role in the film, Ali tells us that he had a blast on the set, working with Sanjay. “I’ve been a big fan of his since a long time,” he smiles, adding, “I didn’t think Baba would be so chilled out!” But it wasn’t only fun and games. The senior actor helped Ali with his scenes as well. “If I ever got nervous, he always said, ‘Ali, don’t get confused. Apna time leke shot de, bas tension matt le’. Even while doing emotional scenes, he always asked me to do it with absolute intensity,” Ali states.