OFFICE HOURS WITH ALI

Ipsita Kaul in conversation with the Mirzapur’ alumni on his global stardom and appetite for film direction

‘Work-life balance’ is a weighty term, you see. Self-professed mindset gurus and hustle culture denouncers will fight it out unto perpetuity, only to conclude sans verdict. Such is the nature of work, especially if it boasts of an overlap with one’s passions. Especially true for an actor with a calibre like our cover star Ali Fazal, the boy-next-door who has shared screen space with the likes of Dame Judi Dench and Gal Gadot. Fazal is a living example of balance shrouded in glitz. He walks into the ELLE India office, running a slight 15 minutes late as he was on daddy duty, on a slightly gloomy Saturday morning, walking the corridors reverberating with chatter from the busy day before.

“Shooting at the ELLE India office was fancy. My first impression: a typical office comprising mostly grids and lines, so there’s only that much you can say about it, but it’s more about the people who sit in those chairs and desks,” he said in a voice note that captured his initial impressions. I briefly wondered if he glanced at my messy table laden with candles and a pot planter I’ve been meaning to take home since 1924. “Once we started shooting it became a very cosy space and in fact, it felt like I was invading that space because each desk had its own little features, memories and experiences all pasted alongside their respective laptops and workstations. I’m really glad that ELLE gave me that space to be creative with the whole team. That was really cool,” he said.