Ali Fazal

Ali Fazal gifts Lucknow a performing hub

May 022018

Ali Fazal to open cultural venue in hometown where artistes across fields can display their skills

Ali Fazal

The Lucknow leg of the shoot of Ali Fazal’s upcoming venture, Milan Talkies, doubled up as a work trip for another project too. The actor tells mid-day that he met with theatre owners to understand the kind of performing art outlets the city houses, given that he intends to open one soon. Since Lucknow — also Fazal’s hometown — is known to breed talented authors, poets and dancers, the actor hopes a cultural hub can serve as that platform where artistes can display their skills.

“Given that I belong to Lucknow, I wanted to give back to my hometown, the place where I grew up. This is my passion project. The city is so rich in culture,” says Fazal, adding that he will soon zero in on a location. The venue will have both, an indoor and an outdoor space, where events, workshops and panel discussions will be held. Musical gigs, like open mic sessions will be conducted at the open space, while plays and dances will be held at the auditorium.

“The venue will be divided in two parts. A larger space will accommodate a group of 90 people, while another outlet for intimate gatherings can house about 30 people. The open space can also be used for workshops for children during their school breaks,” Fazal says. The actor’s venture will be distanced from the influence of any government body. “It’s a private project and I intend to keep it that way.”

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Ali Fazal: Have met single screen owners

Celebrities

Mar 192018

Ali Fazal talks about his prep for Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Milan Talkies

Ali Fazal

Six years after being involved in a musical chair of sorts — as the film jumped from one actor’s lap to another’s — Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Milan Talkies finally went on floors in Lucknow yesterday. Evidently ecstatic to return to his hometown, lead actor Ali Fazal says he took to the film with renewed vigour.

Tigmanshu Dhulia

While there has been sufficient speculation about the actor’s role in the romance drama, Fazal refuses to divulge details. However, in a chat with mid-day, he spills the beans on his preparation for the film, which also touches upon the plight of single screen owners in the age of multiplexes. “I am connecting with owners of single screens, and other people who have worked in theatres. This includes the ushers, and those who operate the reels,” says the actor, who has also apparently met trade pundits to learn of their operations. “Growing up in Lucknow, I visited several single screens, so I am refreshing my memories. It is an interesting process.”

Meanwhile, Ali Fazal also shed weight for his part, since he needed to look lean for the film. “I recently wrapped up [the web series] Mirzapur, which needed me to look muscular. So, it took me some time to lose the pounds.”

Milan Talkies, also starring Ashutosh Rana, Sanjay Mishra, Yashpal Sharma and Sikander Kher, sees Dhulia as the writer of the story, screenplay, and dialogues. Fazal is paired alongside newbie Shraddha Srinath in the venture.

Also read: Ali Fazal: Doing ‘Milan Talkies’ would be a big step for me

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Oscars 2018: Ali Fazal, Anupam Kher's films land Oscar nominations

Celebrities

Jan 232018

Indian actor Ali Fazal-starrer Victoria & Abdul has two nominations and Anupam Kher starrer The Big Sick stands a chance to win in one category at the 90th Academy Awards

ali fazal

Indian actor Ali Fazal-starrer “Victoria & Abdul” has two nominations and Anupam Kher starrer “The Big Sick” stands a chance to win in one category at the 90th Academy Awards, where fantasy drama “The Shape of Water” has a maximum of 13 nods.

“Victoria & Abdul”, a movie about a unique bond between Queen Victoria and her Indian Muslim servant Abdul Karim, stands a chance to win in the Best Costume Design and Make-up and Hairstyling categories. In the film, Ali plays Abdul, with Hollywood veteran Judi Dench as Queen Victoria.

As for Anupam’s “The Big Sick”, it is nominated for the Writing (Original Screenplay) honour for Pakistan-origin Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon.

“The Shape of Water” – a love story between a mute woman who works as a cleaning lady in a hidden, high-security government laboratory in 1962 Baltimore and a misunderstood aquatic monster — is in the race to win an award in Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay categories along with Sally Hawkins, Octavia Spencer and Richard Jenkins in contention for the statuette in Lead Actress, Supporting Actress and Supporting Actor categories respectively.

It is also contending in technical categories like Cinematography, Costume Design, Film Editing, Music – Original Score, Production Design, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing and Writing (Original Screenplay).

“The Shape of Water” is the tenth film in Oscar history to earn thirteen nominations, with the current record of fourteen nominations held by “All about Eve” (1950), “Titanic” (1997) and “La La Land” (2016).

Actress-comedian Tiffany Haddish and actor-director Andy Serkis, joined by Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences President John Bailey, announced the nominations on Tuesday via a global live stream. Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra was one of the celebrities who participated in pre-taped category introductions.

“Newton”, India’s official entry for the Foreign Language Film category, had failed to make the cut to the shortlist early in the selection process. Films from Sweden, Chile, Lebanon, Russia and Hungary have made it to the final list.

This year, “Dunkirk” has eight nominations, followed by “Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri” with seven nods, “Darkest Hour” and “Phantom Thread” tying at six, “Blade Runner 2049” and “Lady Bird” registering five nods, and “Call Me by Your Name”, “Get Out”, “Mudbound” and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” contending in four categories.

“Baby Driver” and “I, Tonya” stand a chance to win in three categories, while films with nominations each include “Beauty and the Beast”, “Coco” and “The Post” apart from “Victoria & Abdul”.

Veteran actress Meryl Streep has registered her 21st nomination with a spot in the Actress in a Leading Role for “The Post”, distributed in India by Anil Ambani-backed Reliance Entertainment. She will be competing with Frances McDormand (“Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri”), Margot Robbie (“I, Tonya”), Saoirse Ronan (“Lady Bird”) and Hawkins.

In the Actor in a Leading Role, the nominees are: Timothee Chalamet (“Call Me by Your Name”), Daniel Day-Lewis (“Phantom Thread”), Daniel Kaluuya (“Get Out”), Gary Oldman (“Darkest Hour”) and Denzel Washington (“Roman J. Israel, Esq.”).

At 88 years old, Christopher Plummer has become the oldest acting nominee to date. He is nominated for the Actor in a Supporting Role honour for “All the Money in the World”, in which he replaced Kevin Spacey who was ousted over sexual misconduct claims.

Christopher Nolan has scored his first-ever Oscar nomination for Best Director for his war film “Dunkirk”. Competing with him are; Jordan Peele for “Get Out”, Greta Gerwig for “Lady Bird”, Paul Thomas Anderson for “Phantom Thread” and Guillermo del Toro for “The Shape of Water”.

The 90th Oscars, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, will be held on March 4 at the Dolby Theatre here. It will be aired in India live on Star Movies and Star Movies Select on March 5.

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Richa Chadha dismisses rumours of faking a relationship with actor Ali Fazal

Celebrities

Dec 182017

bollywood actress Richa Chadha on speculations of affair with Fukrey co-star being a promotional gimmick says that she and Ali Fazal are not faking a relationship

Having put up a composed front when rumours of her relationship with Ali Fazal began to be termed a promotional gimmick, Richa Chadha now breaks her silence. “I feel sad for those who think Ali and I are faking our relationship,” she tells mid-day of her Fukrey co-star. Alluding to a storyline that appeared to pair her alongside Varun Sharma’s character, Choocha, she adds, “If I had to start a love rumour to promote the film, I would have done it with Choocha. Ali and I never wanted to talk about [our relationship] publicly because we knew this is how people would react. People should use their brains before passing comments. I hope they get the right message after reading this.”

Ali Fazal and Richa Chadha

It was almost a year ago that tongues started wagging about the duo’s affection for each other. Three months after Fazal spoke about their relationship, Chadha says they’ve been “in a happy space since a long time”. “Ali and I have known each other since we were doing theatre. Speculations were rife since then. People weren’t surprised when the media published it. In fact, the media was the last to know about it.”

Chadha’s arrival at the LA premiere of Fazal’s Brit film, Victoria & Abdul, in September, appeared to be the validation that the media was seeking about their affair. The actor says the comprehension was fitting, after all, “it was obvious that I would not go so far if we were only friends.” Usually tight-lipped about her personal life, she admits the revelation then was unavoidable. “But I feel it’s always good to avoid conversation about it (a romance) as it preserves the sanctity of the relationship.”

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Ali Fazal first Indian actor to deliver a speech at Hollywood Contenders in Los

Celebrities

Nov 042017

Indian actor Ali Fazal, who featured with Judi Dench in “Victoria and Abdul”, will deliver a speech at The Contenders event in Los Angeles on Saturday.

Ali will share anecdotes on Indian cinema, about his role in the film and about growing diversity in Hollywood amongst other things.

Ali Fazal

“Ideally, it would have been Judi and me there but I am going alone this time and of course, ‘Victoria and Abdul’ has done well across the globe. The way American audience has responded, it is really inviting and nice,” Ali said in a statement.

“Basically, Focus Features (film production and distribution firm) have three films this year which are part of the contenders and we all are going to be there.

“This is like early stage contenders of the year who are giving a talk on how we came about making the film and what was our role in it and of course when it comes to me, speaking on diversity and the involvement of actors such as me,” he added.

In “Victoria and Abdul”, Ali played Abdul Karim alongside Dench, who essayed Queen Victoria.

The Contenders is an annual event where the biggest film studios from Hollywood get together to discuss the best in the cinema of the year and two to three films form each studio are elected.

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Missing Bholi Punjaban And Choocha? Here's The Teaser Of 'Fukrey Returns' And It Is Hilarious

Celebrities

Aug 102017

In 2013, director Mrighdeep Singh Lamba proved that you don’t always need huge stars to make a film work at the box office. At times all you need is a great script and talented actors to pull that well-written screenplay. ‘Fukrey’ is an example of one of the funniest films out there and if you haven’t watched that film yet, you are missing out on a great dose of laughter.

And, once again ‘Fukrey’ is back with a sequel and how! In the first installment, the ‘jugaadu’ boys send our favourite Bholi Punjaban (Rich Chadha) to jail. And now she is back to dish out some much needed revenge.

The teaser of ‘Fukrey Returns’, starring Pulkit Samrat, Varun Sharma, Manjot Singh, Ali Fazal and Richa Chadha, is out and as expected it to be one hell of a ride. The sequel looks more interesting and funnier than the first as the teaser states, “Ummeed Pe nahi, Jugaad pe duniya Kayam hai.”

The two minute clip starts with Choocha (Varun Sharma) who now can see the future and calls it “Deja Choo” instead of Deja vu (because obviously, Choocha is seeing it hence it has to be called choo).

The squad also includes Pulkit Samrat, Ali Fazal, and Manoj Singh and they are going to land in trouble with you-know-who. Yes, Bholi Panjaban is out of the jail and furious. It looks like the Jugadu boys are in deep-deep trouble.

The fun banter between Bholi Punjaban And Choocha is the highlight of the teaser and makes us want to watch the first part once again.

Well, I don’t know about you guys but I am definitely in on this madness, after all, how on Earth can you miss Bholi Punjaban And Choocha’s craziness? The teaser loudly screams entertainment, entertainment, entertainment!

Check out the trailer yourself: