Ali Fazal To Leave For London For Death In The Nile, Speaks On The Project

 The  young Ali Fazal is rapidly acquiring an international stature in Great Britain where he  co-starred   with, ahem, Dame Judi Dench  in  the well-received  pseudo-historical Victoria & Abdul in  2017.

 Ali, who will  next be seen in the Sanjay Dutt  project Prasthanam, is now  a pivotal part  of  the new Agatha Christie adaptation Death  On The Nile.

“I don’t  know how  these wonderful things are  happening to me and my career. But they are. I leave for shooting  in  a few days.After that  I will be in  England for  the  next  75 days,” says  Ali excitedly and  tad nervously.

 He  can’t believe he will be working with some of  the most  distinguished  names  in the  British and American  film industry.  “The director Kenneth Branagh is  a legend. His Shakespearean  adaptations are a testimony to his  greatness. And now he’s directing an Agatha Christie  adaptation.My mother and I have been Agatha Christie aficionados for as  long as I can remember.”

Ali is  dazzled by  the array  of his  co-stars  in the  film. “There  is the  very happening Armie Hammer , Gal Gadot  and Latitia  Wright.And now I just heard  the amazing  Annette Bening has  joined the cast. I can see myself having a  blast. There’s so much to learn  from these  actors and technicians. I feel blessed.”

The  best part  of  doing A Death  On The  Nile  for Ali is his character’s colour blindness. “I’m  not playing an  Indian  character. That for me is a big victory. To be an Indian actor and not  being pigeon-holed….wow!”

Back home  Ali has the Sanjay Dutt starrer Prasthanam  and  the web series  Mirzapur’s second season on  hand. “Prasthanam  gave me  a chance to work with  Sanjay Dutt and Manisha Koirala, actors I’ve grown up watching and  admiring. As for the second season of  Mirzapur , I’ve already  completed my work. But there’s time yet before  it streams. Mirzapur  got  me  a lot of  attention.”

Ali has also quietly finished work on another  OTT film. “It’s called House Arrest and it’s a dark comedy  about a man who refuses  to step  out of his home for nine months. It’s  not a thriller and it’s not a comedy in the  normal sense . It’s hard to define. Shashanka  Ghosh is  the  director , and I am curious to see how audiences react to it.”

As  Ali prepares  to fly out  to London, he  mulls over  his lengthy separation  from girlfriend Richa  Chadha. “After a long time I met her at  the  screening  of her film Article 375. She  is  busy with her career.I with mine. We  don’t get to  spend  as much time  together as  we’d like.”