To Ali Fazal, Kandahar will be a memorable project for many reasons, one of which is the unusual way in which it landed on his plate. The actor bagged the Gerard Butler-led spy thriller over an hour-long call with director Ric Roman Waugh.

“I thought it was a preliminary call before the reading session or the audition. We ended up talking for an hour. After the call, my manager told me that the director loved me and wanted me on board. I discovered later that this is his way to analyze an actor. I guess I was being auditioned without even knowing about it,” the actor laughs.

Fazal reached Saudi Arabia a week before the film rolled to prep for the action sequences. A chunk of his set-pieces, he says, involved dirt biking. “I had to learn dirt biking for the role. In a scene, I had to get the bike out of a van, ride it on the sand, then take a U-turn, go back, turn it around on the spot and then race back into the horizon. Doing it is dangerous because the sand is shifty. You need to use your arms to maintain balance,” he shares.

Kandahar marks Fazal’s fourth Hollywood film after Furious 7 (2015), Victoria & Abdul (2017), and Death on the Nile (2022). Starting out with a bit role in 3 Idiots (2009) to sharing screen space with Butler today, it has been a long but satisfying journey for Fazal, who believes he is finally being taken seriously as an artiste. But juggling Hollywood and Bollywood is proving to be tough.

“I’m thankful that I am getting nice roles and great stories. My only regret is not being able to juggle my time. I have been a little selective about my roles because of the [time crunch].”