Elnaaz Norouzi recently made a stride in her Hollywood career as she starred alongside Liam Neeson and Zachary Levi in the actioner The Fix. While it was released in India the past week, its US release happened in November, and the actor is ecstatic with the response.

“It feels very special. It isn’t something I expected but it happened and there’s nothing better than recognition for your work,” she says.

Having gotten the opportunity to work with a Hollywood legend like Liam Neeson, Elnaaz Norouzi says she learnt from him “the ease with which he is present on set”. She says, “It reflects in the way he talks, speaks, performs and behaves.”

But how are superstars in the West different from the ones in India? As per Norouzi, not much. “They are all very down to earth. If you meet a Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan or Hrithik Roshan, they have the same humility as a Gerard Butler or a Liam Neeson or Zachary Levi. We feel that superstars are untouchable, but they are the most humble people,” she insists.

Norouzi made her Hollywood debut with the 2023 release Kandahar, alongside actor Gerard Butler. Ask her whether navigating Bollywood has been tougher or Hollywood, and she says, “Indian industry has been more challenging. The West is still closer to what I am used to when I grew up in Germany. India was much harder for me to navigate, and it took me a lot of time to understand it.”

The actor, who comes from an Iranian-German descent and has been part of Hindi films like Tehran and Mastii 4 (both 2025), adds that Indian cinema often stereotypes foreign-looking actors in their films and give them superficial characters to play.

“There is not that much diversity in Indian films or series. The stories here are mostly about India, and if they go international, it’s mostly about England or Pakistan. In the West, so many more countries come in to make a movie. So, naturally, there is more diversity in the West than Indian cinema,” she says.

Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal’s wedding preps are in full swing. The quirky invites, which reflect the couple’s personalities, have been sent out. Apart from their friends and family, they have also invited Gerard Butler, Judi Dench and a few production members from Ali’s international projects. He has shared screen space with Butler in the Hollywood film Kandahar and had featured with Dench in Victoria & Abdul. A confirmation of their presence at the wedding is awaited. The couple will also participate in dance performances which have been kept as a surprise for each other.

Richa and Ali have opted for an eco-friendly wedding. We have learnt that they have roped in a food curator to ensure food is served in a manner that will ensure it isn’t wasted and is also convenient for the guests to walk around as they eat without lugging around hefty food plates.

A source says, “There will be minimal use of plates, cutlery and non-biodegradable stuff. The food has been curated in such a fashion that it requires minimal to no extra cutlery. They are skipping the typical elaborate buffet, but have a very cool way of serving everything from appetizers to mains to desserts in a pick-and-eat manner. For instance, if it’s rice and gravy, it will be served in a jar for a single portion size so people can pick it up and use a spoon while they hang around. It will be convenient for them as well. The theme at both Mumbai and Delhi celebrations will be sustainable and environmentally friendly. ”

The pre-wedding celebrations will take place at a venue near Delhi from September 29 to October 1. Ali and Richa will tie the knot on October 3 in Mumbai, which will be followed by a reception on October 4.

Elnaaz Norouzi is on a roll this year. The actress was first in the news when the release date of the second season of her international show Tehran, which she is a big part of, was announced. Later, there was a lot of buzz around her when speculations of her new Hollywood project started doing the rounds. Elnaaz has finally confirmed that she is a part of the international action drama Kandahar, which stars Gerard Butler in the lead.

Sharing her excitement about working on the project and with the Hollywood actor, she said, “I have always admired Gerard Butler’s work as an actor. I have seen all of his movies. Getting a chance to perform in a film with him was a defining moment for me. I had the best time working on Kandahar because it was one of those sets beaming with incredible energy. It was an enriching experience to shoot the film. I hope the audience enjoys my performance on screen.”

The film, directed by Ric Roman Waugh, is about an undercover CIA operative stuck in hostile territory in Afghanistan. Meanwhile, that’s not all for Elnaaz. She is also gearing up for the release of the second season of the Emmy Award-winning show Tehran, starring Glenn Close. In Bollywood, she has Sangeen with Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the pipeline, along with OM: The Battle Within and a special appearance in JugJugg Jeeyo.

Professionally, 2021 was interesting for actor Ali Fazal, as he bagged some exciting projects in “Hindi and Hollywood films”.

“Getting to work with (filmmaker) Vishal Bhardwaj is every actor’s dream and then sharing screen notes in Kandhar with (actor) Gerard Butler was fun. I think the turf has got bigger and there is a lot more to give than we were led on to believe from our side,” he shares, as he awaits the release of his next, co-starring actor Gal Gadot.

Personally, it was the other end of the spectrum for him “with losses” in his family. “I guess every family suffered during the second wave, and honestly, my heart goes out to everyone. We have a culture of ‘forget it and move on’, par wahi nahin ho pa raha hai. Maybe, as artistes, we are empaths and sometimes all that happened feels like a dream, as everyone seems to have moved on while others deal with their losses,” he elaborates.

Looking forward to this year, Fazal and his girlfriend, actor Richa Chadha’s first production, Girls Will Be Girls has recently received funding under the Aid aux cinemas du monde, a grant handed out by France’s Centre National du Cinema and Institut Francais. “Richa and I are excited about this and with the grant, we are taking baby steps. Experimentation on all kinds of mediums is our goal,” the actor says.

In a recent interview, talking about her career in Hollywood, actor Priyanka Chopra Jonas had said that South Asian actors have to fight harder to get better roles in Hollywood. How has Fazal’s journey been over the last few years of working in the West? “It’s been a journey of finding the right foothold. You got to throw yourself in the right pit. At times, projects are specific, like I can’t possibly start shooting for Mission Impossible franchise, as it is a Tom Cruise (actor) film. But with a film like Death On The Nile, the studio decided on a blind casting. Earlier, my character was played by George Kennedy (actor) and the character was older, so the age was reduced. The colour didn’t bother anyone, so all these changes were exciting. Weirdly, the world is uniting and yet it is not. So, we have to slot ourselves to make headway,” he signs off.

Actor Ali Fazal is all set to take his next flight to Hollywood with Kandahar, co-starring actor Gerard Butler. And the Indian talent promises lots of action and drama in his next international outing.

The film is being helmed by Ric Roman Waugh, known for bringing alive varied stories on the big screen through projects such as Felon (2008), Angel Has Fallen (2019), Greenland (2020) and the upcoming film National Champions. They will start shooting in Saudi Arabia.

“It’s quite a pleasant outing after the pandemic. Also as actors, we are always looking to better ourselves with every passing prospect. I continue to find new spaces,” an excited Fazal tells us from Saudi Arabia.

The screenplay of the project is written by Mitchell LaFortune, who is looking deep into his own experiences as a military intelligence officer in Afghanistan at the time of the Edward Snowden leaks.

Opening up about the project, the 35-year-old says, “It has been a lot of prep work for me for the last one month and studying all the material Ric and Mitch have given me to work with. Ric is a visionary in all senses”.

The film captures the story of an undercover CIA operative, stuck deep in a hostile territory in Afghanistan, and his escape.

Fazal, who has made a name for himself in the international market with projects such as Victoria & Abdul (2017) and Death On The Nile, says the script is spectacular. “I am humbled to be sharing my notes with the very best in the field. It’s a whole lot of action and drama,” adds the actor, who can’t reveal much about the project at the moment, but promises it to come packed with lots of thrills.