Diamond In The Rough

He has already worked with two Khans—Aamir Khan in 3 Idiots and SRK in Always Kabhi Kabhi. Now, he has his eyes set on clinching a project with the third Khan—Salman. “I think the way he has lived his life on his own terms is awesome,” he says. “I hope to do a film with him one day; it will be a hat trick for me.”

Ali insists that he has learnt a lot from both Aamir and Shahrukh. “Aamir is methodical and has an insatiable hunger for knowledge—that’s something I have imbibed from him-while SRK is a very honest and an emotional person. He is helpful and trusting and it was an honour to work with him.”

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SIMPLE BEGINNINGS The Lucknow boy who attended Doon School, grew up hoping to be an academician like his parents. But one day, Ali broke his hand while playing basketball, his favourite sport, and joined theatre to pass time, coaxed by his friends. All plans changed from here on. “I was bitten by the bug” he says. “I joined Prithvi and dabbled in plays with Naseerudin Shah, which was a lesson in fine acting. Then, luckily, I bagged the role of Joy, the talented scientist who commits suicide, in the blockbuster 3 Idiots. People thought I disappeared after that, while actually I was working on Always Kabhi Kabhi for which I put on 15 kg. But the film sank,” he confesses.

Not one to lose hope, Ali played the brooding musician in Fukrey and his career picked up again. “I wasn’t sure if I should take up the role but I accepted it when Farhan reached out.” Ali thoroughly enjoyed working with Farhan. “I have a visual head,” he says. “So I need to know exactly what I am doing to be able to play the role to perfection. And Farhan made it easy by being approachable.” Bobby Jasoos opposite Vidya Balan, too, was a learning experience for him, and so was Ramesh Sippy’s Sonali Cable—a film that won him great reviews. Ali is now excited about working on Rose, a film produced by Pooja Bhatt that he says is his most important and challenging project so far. This is his first film as a solo lead in which he is paired with Richa Chadda. He will also be seen in debutant director Karan Darra’s Khamoshiyan, an erotic love triangle based in Kashmir, being produced by Fox Star Studios and Vishesh Films.

FACING LIFE’S CURVEBALLS or being a starkid to succeed are overrated notions for Ali. He believes it is talent in the end that takes you far. “I grew up in a middle-class family.

I had dreams and I chased them well,” he says. “They may have taken time to materialise but if I gave up, I would have lost the plot. I know life will throw curveballs, but it is how you deal with them that makes you who you are,” he concludes with a warm smile.