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Pakistani music star Ali Zafar who made his acting debut with Bollywood flick, Tere Bin Laden,last year, had a taste of mainstream cinema with Yashraj's ""Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (releasing today) in a parallel role with actors Imran Khan and Katrina Kaif. With soft, romantic looks and good screen presence, Ali Zafar, who is in love with India and acting, goes a bit over top in the film. A tete-a-tete with the singer-actor.
Tell us about your character in Mere Brother Ki Dulhan.
I'm playing is Luv. Luv is Kush's (Imran Khan) elder brother and they have a very interesting relationship with each other. They are kind of candid with each other, but there is also a little bit of a formal equation between the two. Luv is a little loud, a little flamboyant, with the history of not having had many good relationships with his girlfriends. My character is very strange, he is funny, playful, confused and at times focused. He is also very flamboyant, playboyish and extrovert whereas Kush is docile and introvert. Luv has great equations with his brother though he does throw his weight around since he is elder but he is also quite frank with Kush. He asks his brother to find a girl for him when he breaks off with his girlfriend but he is confused about the kind of girl he wants to marry.
What was your experience doing the film?
What matters to me the most is the people around me who are working on the project. Even when I was doing ""Tere Bin Laden"", people working on the film were really nice and warm and I am still in touch with most of them. They are all great friends and I visit them often. Whenever I visit India I definitely meet them. I felt the same while working on ""Mere Brother Ki Dulhan"" and therefore had great fun. Good human beings matter to me the most. Here the difference was that it was a real big set up of Yash Raj Films. Here everything was available in house. Editing suite, dubbing suite, recording studio..everything is in house, ambience was great. The first time I entered the studio, it had a certain calm and peace to it.
Do you identify with the character you played?
The character is nothing like me in real life actually and that's why I enjoyed doing it. The character is over the top whereas I am a sober person. I got some real good lines to say. The body language was loud, I had to keep changing the pitch of my voice. There is lot of humour in certain scenes. I experimented quite a bit. At times I would ask the director if I was over acting. But Ali said, 'No' as this was the character. The director knows his character the best. We as actors need to deliver what the director is looking for so that's what I have tried to do.
And how was it having Katrina and Imran as your costars?
What can I say about Katrina? Everybody is so fond of her because of her good nature. What I really like about her is that she is very hard working and professional, very sorted when it comes to her work and she is extremely intelligent. I think this is a very important film for her and I do think that this is her film, in a way, the way she is portrayed in it, it is really fantastic. Working with her will always be memorable for me. We had loads of fun while shooting. I am very fortunate to work with an artist like Imran. I was so comfortable. He is a very humble person. Then he had a lot of interesting facts to share and obviously I had many interesting conversations with him.
What do you think is the USP of the film? Why should one go and see ""Mere Brother ki Dulhan""?
I am sure when you go to the theatre it will be houseful and you won't get a seat, there will be a long queue outside. You will definitely find people whistling, clapping, laughing..people will definitely enjoy and spread a word among their friends that it should not be missed (laughs).
What was your experience working with director Ali Abbas Zafar?
Initially I had told him that I would do natural acting. I would be very sober and soft. The director would tell me to lift one note, I would do so..and then he would tell me again to lift two notes. He would ask me to put in more energy in my performance. I took about 10 to 12 days to put in more spark and brightness.Then I started a reverse strategy so much so that I had to tone down and the director had to say 'Control Ali, control..It is becoming too loud..'
You are a musician first, how did you like shooting the songs?
If you want to make me act, make sure that there is no musical instrument kept around me because then I get totally distracted. So during the shoot of songs, there would be harmonium and tabla around me, and I would get so excited. It was really tempting for me to play these instruments. As soon as the scene would end, I would start entertaining people. I would start singing. And I believe that while you are acting you must keep your mood light and enjoy with your co-stars. We would have such great entertaining evenings.
And what do you think about the music in the film? Also what was your experience doing the Madhubala song?
Music is an extremely important element in a film and a director should have good music sense. Ali has that quality in him. The music director for the film is a youngster called Sohail Sen and he is superb. I remember the song ""Madhubala""..the director had sent me an mp3 on email and I just loved it. Both, the director and me are great fans of Kishore Kumar and hence we have this song Mere Pyaari Bindu throughout the film. Sohail Sen has given music to a commercial film very tastefully.. Also there are different genres of music there is Katrina's rock song where she is shown playing a guitar. I wish I was Katrina and had got to play it.
We decided to shoot Madhubala outdoors during summer in June-July and we wanted to finish the shoot in four to five days. I am neither a good actor nor a good dancer. I rehearsed the dance for two days. Thanks to choreographers Bosco-Caeser, they taught me to shake my hands and legs. It was great fun shooting the song as we have all had bhaangwhile shooting it. But it was tough, we would start shoot in the morning and as soon as the shoot would get over by around 7pm we would be dead tired, totally exhausted and then we would start rehearsing for the next day. But now we are young we could do it, don't expect me to do this after 20 to 25 years
How did you like your costumes and styling?
Yes, your costumes give you personality so it is very important what you wear. I was very comfortable with the clothes and was not very fussy about it. Whatever the stylist and the director liked I would wear that. I also liked my hair style in the film.
What are the expectations from the film in Pakistan?
People are really looking forward to it in Pakistan... I remember there was a talk of having premiere in Karachi. I think getting to see Katrina and Imran live in flesh and blood in Pakistan would be great. I think it will be the most talked about film of the year.
Tell us about your character in Mere Brother Ki Dulhan.
I'm playing is Luv. Luv is Kush's (Imran Khan) elder brother and they have a very interesting relationship with each other. They are kind of candid with each other, but there is also a little bit of a formal equation between the two. Luv is a little loud, a little flamboyant, with the history of not having had many good relationships with his girlfriends. My character is very strange, he is funny, playful, confused and at times focused. He is also very flamboyant, playboyish and extrovert whereas Kush is docile and introvert. Luv has great equations with his brother though he does throw his weight around since he is elder but he is also quite frank with Kush. He asks his brother to find a girl for him when he breaks off with his girlfriend but he is confused about the kind of girl he wants to marry.
What was your experience doing the film?
What matters to me the most is the people around me who are working on the project. Even when I was doing ""Tere Bin Laden"", people working on the film were really nice and warm and I am still in touch with most of them. They are all great friends and I visit them often. Whenever I visit India I definitely meet them. I felt the same while working on ""Mere Brother Ki Dulhan"" and therefore had great fun. Good human beings matter to me the most. Here the difference was that it was a real big set up of Yash Raj Films. Here everything was available in house. Editing suite, dubbing suite, recording studio..everything is in house, ambience was great. The first time I entered the studio, it had a certain calm and peace to it.
Do you identify with the character you played?
The character is nothing like me in real life actually and that's why I enjoyed doing it. The character is over the top whereas I am a sober person. I got some real good lines to say. The body language was loud, I had to keep changing the pitch of my voice. There is lot of humour in certain scenes. I experimented quite a bit. At times I would ask the director if I was over acting. But Ali said, 'No' as this was the character. The director knows his character the best. We as actors need to deliver what the director is looking for so that's what I have tried to do.
And how was it having Katrina and Imran as your costars?
What can I say about Katrina? Everybody is so fond of her because of her good nature. What I really like about her is that she is very hard working and professional, very sorted when it comes to her work and she is extremely intelligent. I think this is a very important film for her and I do think that this is her film, in a way, the way she is portrayed in it, it is really fantastic. Working with her will always be memorable for me. We had loads of fun while shooting. I am very fortunate to work with an artist like Imran. I was so comfortable. He is a very humble person. Then he had a lot of interesting facts to share and obviously I had many interesting conversations with him.
What do you think is the USP of the film? Why should one go and see ""Mere Brother ki Dulhan""?
I am sure when you go to the theatre it will be houseful and you won't get a seat, there will be a long queue outside. You will definitely find people whistling, clapping, laughing..people will definitely enjoy and spread a word among their friends that it should not be missed (laughs).
What was your experience working with director Ali Abbas Zafar?
Initially I had told him that I would do natural acting. I would be very sober and soft. The director would tell me to lift one note, I would do so..and then he would tell me again to lift two notes. He would ask me to put in more energy in my performance. I took about 10 to 12 days to put in more spark and brightness.Then I started a reverse strategy so much so that I had to tone down and the director had to say 'Control Ali, control..It is becoming too loud..'
You are a musician first, how did you like shooting the songs?
If you want to make me act, make sure that there is no musical instrument kept around me because then I get totally distracted. So during the shoot of songs, there would be harmonium and tabla around me, and I would get so excited. It was really tempting for me to play these instruments. As soon as the scene would end, I would start entertaining people. I would start singing. And I believe that while you are acting you must keep your mood light and enjoy with your co-stars. We would have such great entertaining evenings.
And what do you think about the music in the film? Also what was your experience doing the Madhubala song?
Music is an extremely important element in a film and a director should have good music sense. Ali has that quality in him. The music director for the film is a youngster called Sohail Sen and he is superb. I remember the song ""Madhubala""..the director had sent me an mp3 on email and I just loved it. Both, the director and me are great fans of Kishore Kumar and hence we have this song Mere Pyaari Bindu throughout the film. Sohail Sen has given music to a commercial film very tastefully.. Also there are different genres of music there is Katrina's rock song where she is shown playing a guitar. I wish I was Katrina and had got to play it.
We decided to shoot Madhubala outdoors during summer in June-July and we wanted to finish the shoot in four to five days. I am neither a good actor nor a good dancer. I rehearsed the dance for two days. Thanks to choreographers Bosco-Caeser, they taught me to shake my hands and legs. It was great fun shooting the song as we have all had bhaangwhile shooting it. But it was tough, we would start shoot in the morning and as soon as the shoot would get over by around 7pm we would be dead tired, totally exhausted and then we would start rehearsing for the next day. But now we are young we could do it, don't expect me to do this after 20 to 25 years
How did you like your costumes and styling?
Yes, your costumes give you personality so it is very important what you wear. I was very comfortable with the clothes and was not very fussy about it. Whatever the stylist and the director liked I would wear that. I also liked my hair style in the film.
What are the expectations from the film in Pakistan?
People are really looking forward to it in Pakistan... I remember there was a talk of having premiere in Karachi. I think getting to see Katrina and Imran live in flesh and blood in Pakistan would be great. I think it will be the most talked about film of the year.
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