His second Bollywood movie is inching towards a September release and Ali Zafar is finally on a signing spree. “Yes, I’m doing two more films — Goldie Behl and Shrishti Arya’s London Paris New York and David Dhawan’s Chashme Buddoor. They will keep me busy till next summer. I like to take my time. In seven years, I’ve done just two albums,” points out the singer-actor.
London Paris New York, directed by Anu Menon, is a coming-of-age love story that co-stars Aditi Rao. It’s the journey of two very different people, Nikhil and Lalitha, who meet for a night each in London, Paris and New York, the cities mirroring the three states of love. “We’ve just wrapped up the London schedule. That’s why I couldn’t come down to India for the music launch of Mere Brother Ki Dulhan. We had to shoot in London at this time of the year, the script demanded that,” says Zafar.
Buzz was that he couldn’t be at the music event because of visa problems? “Getting a visa has never been a problem. The Indian embassy has been kind and obliged whenever I was needed here,” he asserts.
Prod him on the Chasme Buddor remake and he says that after meeting David Dhawan he didn’t think twice about giving his nod to the project that has him essaying Farokh Sheikh’s role. “I wanted the experience of working with the industry’s lucky mascot,” Ali smiles. “And though we’ve retained the basic story, it’s been adapted to today’s time, with those little flourishes that make a typical David Dhawan film.” And is a Tere Bin Laden (2010) sequel on the cards? “Now that Osama is dead, I don’t think it would make sense to have one. But Pooja (producer Pooja Shetty) and I will definitely make another movie together,” he promises.
Prod him on the Chasme Buddor remake and he says that after meeting David Dhawan he didn’t think twice about giving his nod to the project that has him essaying Farokh Sheikh’s role. “I wanted the experience of working with the industry’s lucky mascot,” Ali smiles. “And though we’ve retained the basic story, it’s been adapted to today’s time, with those little flourishes that make a typical David Dhawan film.” And is a Tere Bin Laden (2010) sequel on the cards? “Now that Osama is dead, I don’t think it would make sense to have one. But Pooja (producer Pooja Shetty) and I will definitely make another movie together,” he promises.
Tere Bin Laden could not be released in Pakistan following a last-minute ban from the authorities there and Ali lost a lot of money. He won’t be distributing his second movie, Mere Brother Ki Dulhan, across the border but doesn’t think it will run into any problems. “If viewers in Pakistan could watch Katrina and Hrithik (Roshan) kissing in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara then Mere Brother Ke Dulhan in comparison is the safest film on the planet. For that matter, even Tere Bin Laden didn’t have anything objectionable,” he reasons, adding he’s looking forward to his second Bollywood outing. But isn’t he playing second fiddle to Imran? “I’ll wait for you to watch the film and answer that question,” he retorts.
Reportedly, Ali was planning to relocate to India and even looking around for a house? He says, “Right now, I’m a vagabond going wherever my shoots take me… India, UK, France, the US. I’ve hardly spent much time in Pakistan lately. In fact, even Eid is going to be in India this year!”
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