EXCLUSIVE Ali Fazal on working with Judi Dench in Victoria and Abdul

Ali Fazal is going all busy with Hollywood film Victoria and Abdul and Bollywood's Fukrey 2.

Ali Fazal, Ali Fazal film, Victoria and Abdul, Fukrey 2

Ali Fazal is going all busy with his Hollywood and Bollywood films, Victoria and Abdul and Fukrey 2.

Ali Fazal started his Bollywood career with a cameo in 3 Idiots and then we saw him playing an important role in Fukrey. The actor feels he is lucky to have followed the same pattern in Hollywood too. The actor, who made his Hollywood debut with a small role in the 2008 film The Other End of the Line and a special appearance in Furious 7, is now set for his project as a lead. And this time, Ali will be seen opposite Academy Award-winning actor Judi Dench. In an interaction with indianexpress.com, the actor disclosed how he is keeping the balance and imbalance, at the same time, to work on two of his projects, Hollywood film Victoria and Abdul and Bollywood’s Fukrey 2.

Ali, who featured in Furious 7, will play the role of Abdul Karim, the young servant from India who became an unlikely confidant and teacher to Queen Victoria (Judi Dench). The film is based on Shrabani Basu’s book Victoria & Abdul: The True Story of the Queen’s Closet Confidant, which tells the extraordinary true story of an unexpected friendship in the later years of Queen Victoria’s long rule.

Ali Fazal, who has been shooting for the film for almost four months, has returned with many happy thoughts. He feels lucky to have got this opportunity. “I got a chance to work with so many stalwarts from British cinema. Judi Dench, of course, who is a legend. Then there was my director Stephen Frears. He is the man who made some of British cinema’s salient trendsetters. I love ‘My Beautiful Laundrette’ and ‘Dangerous Liaisons’.”

Judi Dench

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The movie will be directed by Stephen Frears, known for films like Philomena and The Queen, from a screenplay written by Lee Hall.

Ali Fazal was all over the news when it was revealed that he had a role in Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson-starrer Furious 7. “The films are being shown in India by Sony PIX’s the Fast and the Furious PIXathon (Part 1-5 & 7) on December 17,” Ali informed.

Ali Fazal feels that Bollywood prepares one to do a film in any other language. “Both have their pros and cons. In Bollywood, we have to dance and to a lot more that is not done in Hollywood as of now. But the whole experience is great and just endless learning is what I got to bring along with me.”

Talking about Fukrey 2, the actor informed, “The cast of Fukrey will remain the same in the sequel. But the story is more of a fresh one.” The actor will certainly be busy as both his films are planned to release almost at the same time, next year.

Check Ali Fazal’s posts on Fukrey 2:

Shootmode! #FukreyReturns 5 am , the city was waking up , i was waking up. Camera is also fading in. pic.twitter.com/7WleD86N64

— ALI / Mir (@alifazal9) December 4, 2016

And Fukrey.Fukrey returns.Fukrey 2. Fukrey Doosri baar.Thhode thhode tukrey,fuk fuk https://t.co/7W5dcohUB2 more titles?#Fukrey2 pic.twitter.com/5Qjw0eS0u3

— ALI / Mir (@alifazal9) November 27, 2016
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Ali has been so busy with his work that he has no time for love. But hopefully, that will change soon? Ali said, “I am not dating anyone as of now. I am just going with work and more work. But maybe I will have this as my New Year resolution, I will keep this as a plan. Though plans to get married is just too far in my list.”

Kriti Sonali

Kriti works as a Copy Editor for the Entertainment section of Indian Express Online (Indianexpress.com). She is great at web stories, galleries, and Express Archive's photo stories. She is good at spotting stories from social media posts. She makes the copies well-loaded with content, photos, tweets, and other related social media posts to make it interesting for the readers. An alumnus of Asian College of Journalism, Chennai (Specialization in New Media), Kriti has been a part of the organisation since November 2015. She took a transfer from Delhi to Bengaluru in April 2017. ... Read More

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