Ali Fazal On Bollywood’s Culture, Hyper-Masculine Cinema & Metro In Dino - video Dailymotion

OutlookIndia

In an exclusive conversation with Outlook following Metro In Dino’s success, Ali Fazal spoke about how he navigates Bollywood's culture, his rhythm of acting and working with directors like Anurag Basu.  He also addressed the industry's tendency toward mediocrity and the post-pandemic shift to hyper-masculine cinema.  Watch the full video to know more.  Reporter: Tatsam Mukherjee  00:11 – 00:31 | Setting the Stage 00:34 – 02:14 | “Nahi ho pa raha hai” – On Helplessness 02:14 – 04:15 | Acting Without a Net 04:24 – 05:08 | Knowing When It Works 05:09 – 07:04 | Generosity in a Competitive Industry 07:11 – 08:57 | Insecurity, Scarcity, and Systemic Flaws 08:00 – 09:11 | Compassion in a World of Distrust 09:18 – 10:29 | On Cluelessness in the Industry 11:12 – 12:25 | Education as a Hurdle? 12:39 – 15:27 | Post-Pandemic Trends and Hyper-Masculinity 15:35 – 16:32 | Ethics and Box-Office Success 16:40 – 18:32 | On Saying No 18:32 – 20:08 | Craft and Direction 20:14 – 21:13 | Fatherhood and Wonder 21:16 – 23:37 | Retaining Individuality 23:41 – 24:28 | Learning from Sunny Deol 24:37 – 25:23 | Money, Fame, and Parenthood  Follow us: Website: https://www.outlookindia.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Outlookindia Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/outlookindia/ X: https://twitter.com/Outlookindia Whatsapp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaNrF3v0AgWLA6OnJH0R Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@OutlookMagazine Dailymotion: https://www.dailymotion.com/outlookindia  #AliFazal #MetroInDino #Bollywood #OutlookTalks #IndianCinema #Acting #AnuragBasu #FilmIndustry #Art #Cinema #Culture

Transcript

00:00Welcome, Ali Fadal. Welcome to Outlook Talks. So good to have you. It's a pleasure to welcome

00:17you here after Metro Indino, which is doing spectacularly well. And there are such an

00:24exciting bunch of films that we await from you. Fingers crossed, we get to watch all of

00:30that and we enjoy you and all of them. But first of all, I want to talk to you about Basu's

00:34film. There's this wonderful scene, you know, like, where you're talking to Fatima's character

00:41and you're saying, it's not going to happen. And I thought there was something so authentic

00:48about the way you say it. Like, have you kind of like, when was the last time you felt that

00:53in your own career? Like, it's not going to happen?

00:56I think, I think as actors, we've all felt it at some point, you know, I know,

01:05I know there was a time when I was making the big decision of like, I think I'd done one, two

01:11odd films and they hadn't worked. And I was like, what do I do? You know, that feeling has come in.

01:21Touchwood, right now, because we've also kind of gone and maybe like I've tasted blood on the other

01:29side of the world as well. And so, it's like, you know, I wouldn't think of or I can't possibly

01:35think of other career options. But I know of people. I know so many people. I know very, very close

01:43people to me who have asked me this question or told me this or we've had this discussion

01:48that it's not going to happen. I mean, I won't be able to live next month. The city I won't be able

01:54to live in. Forget it. Forget work. I won't be able to survive, you know. So, because of that,

02:00maybe I'll move back home. Maybe I'll operate from there. And eventually, you know, people go back

02:09and their lives take them there into that whatever journey. Also, Basudat, the way he works,

02:17he doesn't leave you like much time for prep in terms of, you know, the lines or anything. So,

02:24when you're there, our focus is razor sharp. And in that moment, so honestly, it sounds cliched,

02:31but I was purely imagining this boy's world and of course, you know, the intonations,

02:41if they're known to me, then they've probably been felt at some point in my life.

02:45You know, I can go to an extreme where I'm trying to save a person from dying. I have experienced that.

02:53And that feeling that you're not able to live. You know, that helplessness, yeah.

02:57That helplessness. And I think we've all seen that. I know I've seen it like during COVID,

03:02you're going to be crazy. We all felt that, you know. And it's the last thing you want a doctor to

03:08say to you, it's shitty. So, I guess, maybe I subconsciously might have.

03:17I think what I really think about this scene, like what I was also mentioning in my introduction,

03:21is, is the pause that you take, you know, like,

03:24uh, nahi ho pa ra hai. And there's, there's like a very, uh, odd pause. And you, you told me,

03:31like when we were talking, uh, when I was talking to you right before Kufia, you said,

03:35you know, how you look at acting as like an exercise in rhythm. And, uh, uh, would, would that be like,

03:42uh, right, or I think to say that you were kind of like playing with the rhythm of that line,

03:46is it the way you deliver it?

03:50Yeah, I mean, it's, so there's a basic rhythm for the whole scene. And, uh, I, I try, I still

03:57try and map out whatever I can from whatever I learned at, uh, you know, the Adi Shakti and all

04:03these places, but, um, um, yeah. And then it just, it's like music. Honestly, it's like making music.

04:13So, yeah, you find those highs and lows, you know, they come to you like, sometimes instinctive,

04:20but sometimes it's fun to make it.

04:23Do you, do you know when you hit it? Like when you hit the mark that you want to?

04:28Yeah, sometimes, you know, okay. I'd be lying if I say, no,

04:31to magic hota hai, upar wala hota hai. But, you know, we know, yeah, if I was on stage,

04:38I know that maybe, maybe again, there's always that little 1% that I will get a laugh or I will get a

04:44this thing. Um, but in cinema, it's different because also eventually you don't know. In this case,

04:51I didn't know what's going to happen, where the scene is going to be fitted in things because our

04:58story was one story among five stories. And so, um, I'd have better clarity on those things on a

05:04full-fledged film rather than a single narrative rather than these.

05:09Makes sense. Adarsh said, you know, something very interesting about you. He said how, you know,

05:15how generous you are about like, you know, passing on like callbacks, especially like the ones that come

05:20to the west. Uh, because you guys are like one of like a small, uh, small group of actors, you know,

05:27working from India. How do you, uh, tend to navigate, you know, in such a competitive industry,

05:34like how, where does this security come from that, uh, let me just like, you know, it passes along

05:40because this is someone I respect. I think it comes from the idea that the world is really big.

05:46It's big. And a lot of people eyeing for those roles, you know, an amount where you're just a lucky

05:52number. Even after having whatever, you know, sometimes it's not, oh, wow, this guy is the best

05:59actor that we had. But it's also the looks. It's also this. It's also that. It's also 20,000 things.

06:05I've been told back to back in two projects, uh, English language. Um, one, you're too young

06:13for this part. The second, literally the second one I went for, there's no, you're a little old

06:18for this part. So, you know, and it's, it's, and it, and these are lead parts. And one went on to,

06:24I mean, it was a very, very big franchise. Um, but, you know, it's okay. Uh,

06:31uh, I think Adarsh is a wonderful actor. I've, you know, I really enjoy actors whose choices, you

06:38know, you watch them and you're like, oh, oh, I didn't think of that. Like, I would not have

06:42thought of that if I was there. You know, we all put ourselves in each other's like places, you

06:48know, when we're watching. Um, and I think, uh, like Raj's comedy is very good. I love, you know,

06:55some things he does. I just, I'm like, uh, yeah, so I don't think there's insecurity. I mean,

07:02there's, you know, there's always, I mean, um, I like, I mean, that tends to be something that you

07:08hear about in the film industry, right? Like the insecurity, because everyone is trying to like,

07:14uh, I mean, trying to obviously like, you know, there are limited spots. I think because of that,

07:18you know, because our limitedness, this five people will rule, 10 people will rule, you know,

07:28uh, so then everybody's like, screw this shit, man, let's get to the top. Like, I don't care who's

07:33besides me. Yeah. But that's the system. We have 6,000 theaters in the north, man. I mean,

07:39you kidding me. I mean, I don't know.

07:45I don't know. Which is, which isn't, which isn't like the normal thing, right? The generosity

07:51and the compassion that you're talking about. I mean, that's not something that we see normally

07:55around us. Like not just the film industry, even the world. But look at where the world is round.

08:02We're at the brink of, I mean, we've already got five, six, seven wars in motion, genocides.

08:09We have, you know, governments falling. We have, uh, yeah, it's, it's a bit of a topsy-turvy world right

08:16now. So automatically, uh, the emotion to go and lean towards is hate, anger, you know, distrust,

08:25no trust. There's no trust left. Yeah.

08:28I mean, even now at the box office, we saw, and I saw it very, I'm, I'm, I'm a science guys. I'm like,

08:35okay, I'm just watching the trend. And I saw Metro starts very slowly, you know, because people were

08:41iffy. They started going for Jurassic Park and all the other ones. Of course, it was a good film. But

08:48Metro then started rising up. Good word of mouth. Up until now, it's third week and it's holding

08:55strong. And that confidence has helped. Dude, Sayara is like skyrocketed. It's so amazing. And I think

09:04like, it's so, it's such a relief for people to, for us to know that, okay, people can go to the

09:10theatres if they want, you know, they just need to trust the cinema or the style or whatever is being

09:17like, I have, I have a few friends, you know, like working in the Hindi film industry, like former

09:22journalists, like they, uh, uh, I mean, one thing I tend to like, you know, I hear from them is, you

09:27know, how insulated the industry is and how a lot of people like they've, they're kind of like very

09:33clueless. This is one thing. These are two things that I keep, keep hearing about. Like there isn't like,

09:38there is just like a lot of cluelessness and they, they're very, they tend to get like very pissed off

09:44about it. Uh, being former journalist, uh, like, I mean, how do you navigate like, uh, like does it

09:51get to you like being in the same room, same room as you know, like maybe something tone deaf is being

09:57suggested? Uh, how do you, how do you navigate such rooms? Oh, very often. I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah.

10:05There's like, there's some really stupid stuff that gets narrated, you know, more like,

10:12like, but I think I've started to speak out and be a little blunt about it and or, or maybe just

10:19questioning about it. Okay. There's a reason why you've written this. There's a reason why you're

10:23pitching this to me. You think this is going to work, you know, uh, I might not think that, but bring me

10:29to this page, like, you know, or your level. Make me understand. Um, because honestly, there's no space for

10:36mid, there shouldn't be space for mediocrity. We're watching like really good cinema

10:43on our tellies, you know, from the comfort of our homes. So we're just buttons away from rejection.

10:49And that's, uh, that's it. We're confused because we don't know. Again, the box office kind of directs

10:58everything, you know, so that's why we're confused where everybody's just going to say, okay, this

11:03work, let's make five of these, this work, then let's just make those. Um,

11:11yeah, but actually we don't need to follow anything. We just need to kind of keep ourselves

11:17entertained with good stories and they end up translating, you know, rooted.

11:22Have you, uh, have you ever found like, you know, like, like your education and your sophisticated,

11:29your sophistication, just inherent sophistication becoming an, becoming a hurdle for you in your

11:35Bollywood career?

11:35Yesterday only my team, I mean, not my team, but like my team members, some of them were like,

11:41you can't do this Ali, you have to go do the, do the, you know, rounds. You have to play the game.

11:48Like, you can't be this, you know, I like this cinema, I like that. And I like all cinema. I'm not like,

11:54yeah, yeah, you know, uh, uh, I'll still pick up the first day tickets for my Shahrukh Salman films.

12:02Hmm. Um, but yeah, it's apparently there's a, there's a textbook.

12:08I mean, is it, is it, is it frustrating sometimes? Like,

12:12uh, no, but it's okay. It's fine. It doesn't bother. Now it doesn't bother. Earlier,

12:21really used to, I used to get very like scared,

12:23ke, ab kya hoa, ab bunti ban paoonga maya.

12:26Hahaha.

12:28Honi paara hai.

12:29Wala.

12:30Hahaha.

12:30Nice call back.

12:34Uh, but no, I think, I think, uh, my worldview has shifted.

12:38We're, uh, like looking at the current trend of films, you know, I mean, we're kind of like

12:44harking back to this, uh, like era of hyper-masculinity, which I thought we had kind of, you know,

12:51like left behind, uh, pre-Covid. There were a group of like, you know, like really nice, uh,

12:57female-fronted films, you know, Tapsi doing a lot of these films. Your, uh, Konkana was getting,

13:02uh, was making movies. A lot of these movies are getting made and that seems to have like,

13:08completely like turned on its head since the pandemic began. Do you have any thoughts on this,

13:12first of all?

13:13I think people, uh, after the, okay, the pandemic is like an anomaly. I think already it's like

13:19a walked world post pandemic, right? Nobody knows, you know, people don't want to go to the theaters.

13:24People don't want to stay at home. Um, films are being made. Uh, we, we tried to make girls be

13:31girls after the pandemic. We, uh, we like to think we succeeded with it. Uh, you know, we did

13:38pretty decent and, um, it found a home on Amazon here. Now, this kind of a film coming into the

13:44theaters, I think we're, we've got a, we've got a bit of a way to go, but I don't believe it's not

13:49possible. I just, again, I come back to the same thing. Maybe the prices are too high. People really

13:58need to make a decision when they're going for theaters, you know, and it's either made out of

14:03like screw this. I love this. I want to watch it, you know, this is like picking my wild side or

14:11this is going to push my adrenaline because this is like, you know, it's huge. I know it's going to

14:17like my kids are going to enjoy this or whatever, you know, my family and, uh, maybe, yeah, that's it.

14:24Third is really, really good cinema, but then you can sit back at home and watch that.

14:28Like I've seen the tentpole, you know, like kind of like becoming bracketed into either, uh, like the, uh,

14:34periodical, uh, my, the mythological film, the patriotism film, or it's become like the whole, uh,

14:41hyper-masculine bleep, uh, whether it's like an animal or something like, for that matter,

14:46even, uh, Sayara to an extent. I think it's, it's what has worked. Like, I remember there were four

14:53kinds of films that came when Phukhrib worked. Right. Same buddy films, you know, or let's say when,

15:01Astri works. Right. You know, I know that there are like six other horror comedy productions like

15:07going in, boom, boom, boom, because that is working. And, uh, maybe, maybe that's where people are

15:13going wrong. So, like, you know, the patriotism stuff or the war films, you know,

15:21it was like something new, right? Yeah. Like Lagaan came or whatever. They were,

15:30these were all unique things that just, you would never find six of them.

15:33How, how do you look at like the success of films that you probably don't, uh, like ethically or

15:40for that matter, like politically agree with? I mean, I always think that somebody somewhere has done

15:44a bit of a number on the, the, the people, you know, uh, they've, they've, they've, they've decided to

15:54watch this. So it's like, uh, it's like the hate, I guess, you know, everywhere right now, people get,

16:06uh, drawn in towards that and act in ways we never think they would.

16:11I mean, we are like the most unique country. Uh, I mean, I mean, there are many things that

16:18people are fighting amongst each other, that's also. Um, so, honestly don't know, but it doesn't

16:28bother me. It doesn't bother me that, I know I would, I, I've never slotted myself as, oh, I'm an actor

16:36who would only do this or I would only be fit for this particular bracket. So, I don't judge

16:42me. I feel like, um, uh, you know, the big cinema, which is sort of this, you know,

16:51out loud cinema that had its charm, you know, with the songs and everything. Of course, Basu sir made it

16:57in a very cool musical way run now. But before this and up until even now, actually, the other films,

17:06uh, we, we are, we have our song and dance, you know, Basu, uh,

17:11that story, if it's good, I think, I think, all of us will forgive us. Um, we are still stuck in the,

17:22oh, shit, this, this, this moment made me cry. You know, this moment has hit my six emotions.

17:29In three hours, two and a half hours, somebody has managed to make me cry, weep, angry, you know,

17:37we are still going. Right. With a basic narrative. Would you like, I mean, have you been offered films

17:43that you probably don't like politically agree with? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah, that's

17:48happened. I've, I've refused. But very politely, I've just, you know, it should all happen. Basically,

17:55like, like, like your team was saying, you're like, your team was saying, you know, like, you have to like,

17:59kind of, uh, you have to become more mass, I guess, is what they were trying to say. Not mass,

18:04but I think it's because I'm, I'm generally, um, I would hide under the ground if I could.

18:16So, so I think, I think they are also right in their own way saying, you know, you need to push

18:21yourself out a little bit and not be shy because I think I'm always wondering why, why me? And

18:29yeah, but that's, that's the problem with me, not. I, I think one of the best things about you

18:34as an actor, you know, the way you convinced me of the authenticity of the moment, uh, I was just

18:41rewatching the scene where, uh, you've gone to see Vamika's character, uh, and you're basically like

18:47recounting this anecdote about, you know, the way you take your pauses in that also,

18:55I thought it was so, uh, I thought it was so lovely. Is that the method? Am I, am I correct?

19:00Or, uh, or is there something that just comes, uh, uh, instinctively, instinctively?

19:06Well, you know, a very interesting thing happened, um, in that scene. And I remember this was again,

19:12this is a director's thing. Uh, I've spoken about this before. Vishal ji, right before that scene,

19:18he just told me, he came to me and he said, Ali, give me a call for this. Like, you know, like we say,

19:26fuck, this is the memory. Yeah. Yeah.

19:29So, give me a call for this before you remember this.

19:32I said, Vishal ji, I'm going to say, okay, okay. Just when I was about to take the line,

19:40he says, Ali Ali, just before the action. He said, don't take the call, just take it in your head. Action.

19:45Hmm. And, uh, you know, so that suddenly changed the way, like he manipulated me in that moment.

19:52Yeah. Like, I was spontaneous. Yeah, but I still used my brain. I wasn't imitating

19:58what a director showed me to do, right? Like, and I love that.

20:04I love being conned like that. Like, that was nice. Like, you made me use my brain, but of course,

20:11other things are instinctive, you know, I hope.

20:14Has becoming a father taught you anything as an actor?

20:17I'm sure it has, but I haven't been able to pinpoint it.

20:20Kind of?

20:21It has to have because it's a change in my entire universe as I know it.

20:25Is it possible to like preserve that, you know, that wide-eyed wonder, like when you started

20:32working? I mean, or does that get contaminated along the way?

20:37You know, I think that's the best question like you could ask. I don't know why. I wish somebody

20:44could just write that in like bold letters for all of us to just keep with ourselves. You know,

20:52that innocence. Because every time I'm on a set, I just, I almost feel embarrassed because I feel like a little

21:02kid. You know, and this is what it is. It's pure awe for that craft that I could like

21:11like, yeah. And sometimes there have been blunders because, you know, I've committed. At that time,

21:19I didn't have managers and all. So, I committed to one shoot and another shoot and then going from

21:25one to the next and then screwed up. Some failed or something happened. You know, but just so

21:31involved in it. But now I've kind of understood not to do that but still remain and know. I think

21:36we should, we do get contaminated so many people because it's harsh, you know. We face rejections

21:44left, right and center and it's, you've got to get back up and back up and back up and

21:49you know, early in life, you hear, you've got to be consistent. You know, that really helps. And that

21:55shit lands on your head and you're like, no, I don't believe that. Shut up. I need my break now.

22:00But actually, it's right. But you realize it slowly because at that time, I'm worrying only about my

22:06rent and my money or whatever, whatever, you know, like whatever the current struggle at the time is,

22:12whoever, I'm sure everybody has versions of it. So, yeah.

22:16How does one like retain their individuality in a profession where, you know, like people tend to

22:22like, you know, become clones of each other? I think it's about knowing how recorded literature

22:30and history that we've been taught or we try to learn or read, at least I'm assuming as actors or

22:36artists we do read, what effects those have on you, you know, and then that and how you end up and the

22:47greatest litmus test is to read the same text after you've read something else and then go back to that

22:54text. And then go back to that text. Like I, and text, I mean, you know, like, like I, after years,

23:03one of our friends recommended to watch Jodie Foster's Contact.

23:08Oh, okay.

23:08Do you remember Contact 2? Watch it now.

23:10Yeah, I've seen it. I love it. Yeah.

23:13I love it.

23:13Even I've seen it. I've seen it long time back, right? We all saw it when it came. You see it now. It's, it's bizarre

23:20how bang on it is. Wow. And apparently now watching like Matthew McConaughey on the other side,

23:28you're like, wait, is Interstellar Part 2? Is there a theory on that too? Whatever, whatever. But like,

23:35it's so cool. And I was like, man, you know, I couldn't have understood it this way or seen it this way.

23:40You're working with Sunny Deval, which is, you know, like the complete opposite school of acting, I would

23:46assume, than yours. But like, what if, what if you glean from the high decibel style of acting,

23:54which can also be like very effective, right? When done correctly.

23:57But again, can I tell you, I'll tell you why, sorry, I might get quoted wrong or whatever,

24:03but again, why a person like Sunny, you know, Sunny sir would work is because he has great innocence in

24:10his eyes. You know, he's great. He's, I mean, and what a one to kind of, it's just a wonderful cast.

24:21We had Rajkumar Santoshi directing, Mehram Khan producing. So, you know, I think it's all in all been a

24:28very, and very different kind of film than I think I've seen him in, in the recent years.

24:36What's your relationship with money and fame?

24:41We love, like, both. I think a bit of both. I guess what I'm asking is like, have you found a way to like,

24:48you know, because it tends to become the boss of you and you can kind of like lose, yeah, you can

24:54lose yourself in it a little bit. So, I mean, have you found a way to like deal with it or does it

25:00like kind of like make you anxious? Oh, I think I, we found ways or maybe finding ways

25:08because I'm also a new parent. So, right now everything is very spiritual for me and that's

25:13almost borderline dangerous for somebody making money because you're like, I'm okay without it,

25:18but I'm not. I should not be okay without it. You know, it's essential. Absolutely not.

Ali Fazal On Bollywood’s Culture, Hyper-Masculine Cinema & Metro In Dino

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