EXCLUSIVE | 'Metro... In Dino' actor Ali Fazal on Deepika Padukone's eight-hour shift: ‘You can’t have metrics; we are creating…’

On chatting about how much stress free the sets of Anurag Basu were, Ali Fazal says how different his approach towards filmmaking is. Ali also stresses on the fact that his fight has always been for the people on the other side, there are so many departments that are overlooked especially the technical. They don’t have strong union systems. They don’t see the profits of films.

Ali mentions, coming from working-class background, having respectable working hours will be nice to have because all of us have families to go back to.

Edited excerpts from the interview: 

How do you manage the Hollywood and Bollywood shuttling?

 I don’t actually. And now being a parent, I am scared that nothing big should come suddenly that I will have to leave and think god has been kind, ever since my kid was born, I have managed to have most of my shoots in Mumbai or at least within India. I think staying away from my kid mentally gets a little hard. I am just hoping I am able to do it.

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Yes, you have to think of a lot of other things since you have a kid now…

Actually, I can’t just pick up my bag now and move. I often find myself making excuses nowadays.

On work-life balance after becoming a father…

 I think both Richa and I do. We take turns and we give importance to our kid’s schedule. That comes first for us. We are managing, when Richa is working, I step in and somehow things are going well.

How much do you agree with  Deepika Padukone’s eight-hour shift because Anurag Basu mentioned very clearly that he wants his actors to have fun?

 It is a completely different experience, he doesn’t want us to come prepared. The process is very different. Sometimes the way he designs his shots doesn’t take that kind of long hours at work. And sometimes it can take more than eight hours. We are all at the end of the day trying to create something and to create we need to have compassion. You can’t have metrics, it can’t be measured in so many things.

But, yes, we are also people with families, sometimes we need to make things work. We come from a working-class background and respectable hours will be nice to have. Sometimes we have seen passionate people doing the same thing in one hour and sometimes we have seen passionate people doing the same thing in ten hours and having fun.  My fight has always been for the people on the other side, there are so many departments that are overlooked especially the technical. They don’t have strong union systems. They don’t see the profits of films. Again, it boils down to the systems, I think there can be better systems.

 On cinema changing and every character playing a very important role…

I think it is time we change. The real validation comes in when the audiences pour in so much love. We need more directors who are writing such scripts and narratives boldly. Coming together for  _Metro…In Dino_ was such a fantastic moment and putting it all together with so many actors and such amazing songs requires great craftsmanship. I just hope cinema should get better. Even Sitaare Zameen Par working on the box-office is such a good feeling for those in the entertainment industry.

The most hurtful thing we end up saying to the people who love the most and that can get really toxic. Even Fatima in the movie says, I left my entire career for you. And even that is a bit of a guilt trip. The best thing about Anurag Basu is that he is not judging his characters.

What’s next?

Work for Mirzapur is just beginning. There is also a Hollywood English language film that is going to happen soon.