Ali Fazal believes Hollywood’s understanding of Indian talent has shifted well beyond the old assumption that Indian cinema begins and ends with song and dance. The actor, who has built a steady international career over the past decade, said the industry is now paying closer attention to stories and performers from South Asia.
A changing perception of Indian talent
Speaking to Variety India, Fazal said, “I think people understand the rich culture that we come from. And, in many places, people are jealous of that because we still hold on to stories that the world has not seen. I think now, more than ever, there will be a lot of focus on South Asian stories, characters, and actors. I’m happy so many actors are going out now and can share notes with everybody at that level.”
He pointed to actor Adarsh Gourav as an example of this shift, noting that Gourav appeared in Alien: Earth and was returning for its second season.
Recalling old stereotypes
Fazal, whose international credits include Victoria & Abdul, Death on the Nile, Furious 7 and Kandahar, said such stereotypes were far more common earlier in his career. He recalled being asked in a room, “Oh, your English is very good,” to which he replied, “You ruled over us for 200 years. It bloody well be good. I mean, among other languages, but yeah.”
Moving beyond ethnicity driven casting
The actor also spoke about deliberately steering clear of stereotypical brown boy roles, crediting a period of casting that has grown more inclusive and character driven rather than ethnicity driven.
“I think actively and luckily I have been part of that changing period in casting,” he said, adding that Death on the Nile was cast in a completely colour blind manner despite the original book featuring an entirely white cast. He noted that his role was originally written as older, but director Kenneth Branagh reworked it as a younger character for him. On Kandahar, Fazal said he played an Indian operating between Pakistan, Qatar, and Afghanistan, describing the character as a nobody, a biker, and a loner rather than a figure defined by his ethnicity.
As more Indian actors find footing on the global stage, Fazal’s own trajectory reflects an industry gradually rewriting who gets to tell which stories, and how.
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