Vishal Bhardwaj says Ali Fazal has a wonderful range

New Delhi : Filmmaker Vishal Bhardwaj, who has recently collaborated with actor Ali Fazal for the spy thriller ‘Khufiya’, shared how he was fascinated by the latter’s previous performances, saying he was looking for an opportunity to work with him.

Ali is best known for his role of Guddu Pandit in the action crime thriller web series ‘Mirzapur’. Apart from Ali, it also stars Pankaj Tripathi, Shweta Tripathi Shamra, Divyenndu, Vikrant Massey, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Rasika Dugal, Harshita Gaur and Kulbhushan Kharbanda in pivotal roles.

The actor is also known for his work in projects like ‘3 Idiots’, ‘Fukrey’, ‘Sonali Cable’, ‘Milan Talkies’, amongst many others.

In the Vishal Bhardwaj directorial ‘Khufiya’, Ali plays the character of Ravi Mohan.

Talking about casting Ali in the film, the National Film Award-winning director told : “I have been seeing him for such a long time. Everyone has seen his work in ‘Mirzapur’. Entire country loved his performance. I saw him in ‘Fukrey’.”

“I also saw him in a film, which unfortunately has not been released, and don’t know when it will be released. It is directed by Shujaat Saudagar. So when it was sent to me during the pandemic — it was a story of two people, who are trapped in a home, riots are going on. One of them is Hindu, the other is Muslim. So that is such a beautiful performance by Ali. I saw a very different layer of Ali in that. It was very different from his image of Guddu bhaiya from ‘Mirzapur’,” shared the ‘Maqbool’ director.

The filmmaker further said: “I thought this man has a wonderful range in himself. I also saw his English movie ‘Victoria & Abdul’”.

So what this character ‘Ravi Mohan’ needed- a suave, glamour, and rootedness that I saw in Ali. And I was looking for an opportunity to work with him to be honest,” added Vishal.

‘Khufiya’ marks an exciting departure from Vishal’s usual forte, who is known for his exceptional work in adapting classic literature and crafting dark, intense narratives set in rural landscapes. This time, he ventures into the realm of espionage with a spy thriller that promises to be a captivating addition to his diverse filmography.

The film also stars Tabu and Wamiqa Gabbi. It is streaming on Netflix.

Ali was last seen in Hollywood film ‘Kandahar’, an American action film directed by Ric Roman Waugh and written by Mitchell LaFortune. The film stars Gerard Butler in the lead, and features a supporting cast that includes Ali Fazal, Navid Negahban, Bahador Foladi, Nina Toussaint-White, Tom Rhys Harries, Vassilis Koukalani, Mark Arnold, Corey Johnson, and Travis Fimmel.