‘Good human beings matter to me the most’

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 new release – ‘Mere Brother Ki Dulhan’ in a parallel role with actors Imran Khan and Katrina Kaif. His soft, romantic looks and striking screen presence are impressive; but Ali, who is in love with India and acting, plays a loud character in his commercial debut. Here’s a tete-a-tete with the singer-actor.
Tell us about your character in ‘Mere Brother Ki Dulhan’.
I play Luv. Luv is Kush’s (Imran Khan) elder brother and they have a very interesting relationship. They are kind of candid with each other, but it is also a bit of formal relationship. Luv is little loud, flamboyant, with the history of not having had many good relationships with his girlfriends. In fact, my character is strange; he is funny, playful, confused but at times focused. Luv asks his brother to find a girl for him when he breaks off with his girlfriend but he is confused what kind of girl he wants to marry.
What was your experience doing the film?
Even when I was doing ‘Tere Bin Laden’, people were really nice and warm and I am still in touch with most of them. They are all great friends and I visit them whenever I visit India. I felt the same while working on ‘Mere Brother Ki Dulhan’ and therefore had great fun. Good human beings matter to me the most.
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 in the film. 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.
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, she is 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. Then I am very fortunate to work with an artist like Imran. I was so comfortable. He is a very humble person. He had a lot of interesting facts to share and obviously I had great conversations with him.
What do you think is the USP of the film?
I am sure when you go to the theatre it will be houseful and you won’t get a seat, you will find a long queue outside. Once inside, you will definitely find people whistling, clapping, laughing… the word will spread that it should not be missed (laughs).
We hear that you would entertain people on the sets while shooting.
If you want to make me act, make sure that there is no musical instrument kept around me because then I get totally distracted. During the shoot of songs, there would be harmonium and tabla around me, and I would get so excited. As soon as the scene would end, I would start entertaining people.
What are the expectations from the film in Pakistan?
People are really looking forward to it in Pakistan. I think it will be the most talked about film of the year.