EXCLUSIVE | 'Metro In Dino' actor Ali Fazal on his work-life balance: 'I have a lot of fights, I now have a daughter and…'

Ali Fazal has been acting for the last 17 years. From 3 idiots that came out in 2009, he went on to act in Hollywood juggernauts, OTT classics, and the recent Mani Ratnam monster called Thug Life. The actor is now gearing up for Anurag Basu’s Metro In Dino that releases in cinemas on July 4.

In an exclusive interview, he spoke about his collaboration with the filmmaker, his favourite films of Dada, as he’s fondly called, the importance of work-life balance, and the world of this anthology drenched in pain and passion, both.

Edited excerpts from the interview

The trailer gives a lot and yet it gives away nothing. So what can we expect?

I think it’s really nicely crafted. Anurag Basu is so good that way. I think you expect what Basu brings to cinema. You can definitely expect interesting narratives. I don’t know the rest of them. Because we were all kind of kept in.. these capsules.

So these stories are not intertwined?

They are intertwined. So you know that you are crossing paths with somebody. I know, because I know they’re the actors..    They are known actors. But for instance, I was telling somebody, I’ve said this before in the interview as a sequence where this car comes at the crossing and I’m running. So, you know, it almost hits me and I just..    That shot is in the trailer as well, I guess. Either way, I sort of bang on the bonnet and I leave. Now, I didn’t know that Pankaj Tripathi was sitting in that car and they were shooting this while this was happening. It was so fast. So stuff like that you don’t get to know, because he also keeps that unpredictability alive and in his narratives and while shooting also. Anurag Basu is like a master of set design. His production design team is genius.  

Also, the frames of Basu, be it Metro, be it Gangster, beat Life in a Metro, Barfi Jagga Jasoos and even this film. How would you describe the way he stages a scene and the way his cinematographer, his entire team light up?  

With the stage is set in his mind, and I think I was again saying this before, if he imagines the camera, because he imagines the movement of the camera as well, I’m assuming. And if he imagines it going through the wall, because some scene is crossing over, then he will make it go through the wall, which means he will create that set. A lot of people don’t think like that. You have to, but he’ll create a set and be able to merge that into the real surroundings. That’s a craft.  

Which is your favourite Anurag Basu film?  

I mean, the musicality of Jagga Jasoos, I thought it was unmatched. Just the format that he tried to pull off. It didn’t work. That’s another thing. if I may confess, I fell in love with Kites while watching it.

A lot of actors who have worked with him have said that he improvises a lot. He creates situations on the set. How do you describe your experience and what is the importance of improvisation for an actor?

I think the improvisations are the hardest. Not because somebody can’t do them, but because Basu is good at giving you a daira that you cannot cross. They are going to be giving you the map. And then he’ll throw in a clue. It’s almost like throwing in another animal that you can’t see. but you are going to react to that.    No matter what you do. You take the same line, but it’ll land differently because now he’s thrown another clue. He lets you make your own choices. He lets you breathe, he lets you bring your A game and then move around with it. So and when you’re wrong and when you’re off, he’ll tell you.

Your bit with Fatima as going by the trailer, has a lot of energy and emotional depth. Who are these two people?

They are working class people. And that’s it. That’s where the depth comes in.

Post the pandemic what I have seen is that a lot of filmmakers are following the crowd. They are making mass movies and action movies. So as soon as you see anything related to Metro, you feel like this is a breath of fresh air.

So what is the importance for you as an actor not to follow the crowd and create your own path when it comes to your choices?

Wow. I mean, aren’t we all in some way or form, right? I have something that you don’t, that’s the basis of everything in the world. Just the range varies and that’s how we are separate from each other. I think I’m trying to make choices. I haven’t been in the theatres in a while. So for me, coming back this way is probably the safest way. I have the cushioning of so many great actors along with me and a great director. So I’m not going to complain. I think I’m good hands. Either way, I think his narratives are very nice and and relatable.

You have been working as an actor in the film industry for the last 17 years, you have ruled the OTT space, you have made a name for yourself in Hollywood as an actor. When you are working so much, what is the importance for you when it comes to your work life balance?  

I try, but you know, I think balancing stuff outside the country and within gets a little hard for me. I have a lot of fights. And a lot of people are not really happy with you. But I have to. I have no other choice because I don’t know how to navigate. I’m still learning. But I think now recently, in the last like one year, my time management has been a new thing because I’m now on the schedule of my daughter. So I have a good reason to just shut up and say, hey, you know, I got to stop work now.

What has been your one takeaway for you from Metro In Dino?

One of the biggest learnings, I think, has been on a personal level, I said this before. I’ve learned the most important things for an actor, is just to be able to think on your feet and two people have helped me in that- Anurag Basu and Tigmanshu Dhulia. I did Milan Talkies with him that didn’t work, but that’s not the point. My journey with him and Anurag Basu has been very similar that way. I think I always cherish them.