Bollywood’s newest export to western cinema talks about working with the world’s finest
Some time in the summer of 2016, Ali Fazal made headlines around the country, and the world, for bagging a role opposite Dame Judi Dench in director Stephen Frears’ Victoria and Abdul. Ali, who was known for a small role in 3 Idiots and had just played a singer from Amritsar in Happy Bhag Jayegi (2016), headed to London to meet the legend. As a fan, he didn’t need to read up on Judi. He did spend some time figuring out his opening line. But all that preparation went out of the window and Ali turned into a boy from Lucknow who’d really met his queen.
Ali Fazal plays the lead opposite Dame Judi Dench in Stephen Frears’ Victoria and Abdul. Styling by Devraj Das. Make-up and hair by Ashwin Shelar. Ali Fazal is wearing a shirt from H&M, trousers from GAP, jacket by Mayyur Girotra and shoes from Diesel. Shoot location: Romano’s at JW Marriott Mumbai, Sahar(Photos shot exclusively for HT Brunch by Prabhat Shetty)
Ali, known for a small role in 3 Idiots, had recently played a singer from Amritsar in Happy Bhag Jayegi (Prabhat Shetty)Judi Dench (left) and Ali Fazal in a still from Victoria and Abdul According to Ali, right from day one, Judi Dench was welcoming and accepting. (Ali wears T-shirt and jeans from H&M, jacket from Diesel and belt from GAS) (Prabhat Shetty)The movie, Victoria and Abdul, had a no-rehearsal shooting schedule. (Ali wears shirt from Pero and jacket by Kanishk Mehta) (Prabhat Shetty)Ali calls this film the defining line that divides his life in two halves (Ali Fazal wears a T-shirt from H&M and jacket by Kanishk Mehta) (Prabhat Shetty)
“I almost felt a little uneducated [while working on this movie]. All that I had read and prepared was not enough!”
Ali learnt a lot from Judi Dench and hopes that his interactions with her will continue even after the film. (Ali wears shirt from Diesel and trousers from Benetton) (Prabhat Shetty)
