Ali Fazal: I think the word ‘alpha’ has been abused

No, not at all. But I knew that the team was quite good and they had a great vision. I got a sense that this is something very different. I had seen this format of web-shows working in Hollywood at that time. So, I knew that this would strike a chord even in India. I remember I was offered some other films at that time and people were telling me to leave the show and do a film instead. But I just thought I could really bring something to this character. Also, I would not have cast myself in this role. I had an entirely different image before that which is why I feel that Mirzapur was kind of an anti-casting that happened with me.

I don’t think it is glorified but I am generally averse to violence so it was difficult for me to shoot these scenes. More than anything, it's the logic of it that I have always fought and argued about. So, my longest conversations on set were with Gurmeet, our director. Sometimes the shoot would stop due to our discussions. It was important for me to have these conversations as I have to get into the truth of it, the reason for it. At what point are we doing this? Why are we doing this? Not that I am throwing tantrums, but I just feel it becomes necessary to know that this is the natural progression of this character in this context.

I don't think we are anything close to that in Mirzapur. I think masculinity needs to be preserved and taken care of and nurtured more than it has been in the last few years. I think the word alpha has been abused. I think chivalry has gotten lost along the way. There are very few gentlemen left. Men have stopped taking responsibility for their own clothes. We don't dress up well anymore. I think that's important. And at the same time, masculinity isn't complete without femininity and we all have that side to us. We come from our mothers' wombs. So, we just have to own it. When it comes to playing a part, those are fictional characters. The way you approach them, the way you play them is your choice. Those choices have to come from a place of honesty and truth.

We have always made formula films. It's almost seasonal. Jo chal gaya uske 5 aur bante hain (If something works, it is repeated by others). Until some of them fail and then somebody says, okay, let's try something new. That trial and error has been going on for a long time. I don't think it's something new. When action films are doing better, only these films are seen. Even when Fukrey came, there were many of these buddy films that released at once. Maybe the solution to that is to take risks, but there's an audience that you are looking at. And so many big films have not worked recently. So, we really don't know what can work and what cannot.

Producers can. There's no point for actors championing some writers by doing good PR and everything. Why do that and then forget about it later? It’s like going to clean up the beach when people are going to keep littering around anyway. We don’t have a lasting solution for that. That’s why it is important to look at the core of these issues and resolve them fruitfully.

I believe that charity begins at home. We really hope that we can do it locally on our own production sets. We want to create a sense of democracy and equality amongst our technicians. We are very proud of the program that we run for girl gaffers. It's a first of its kind initiative designed to train Indian women in lighting and various gaffer techniques. We did the first edition of the program two years back and we will be resuming it soon. It's got a grant from the Berlinale festival. We are really hoping that we are able to find lots of girls who can just come in and train to be gaffers. But that's just one aspect. Slowly, we are going to work on other aspects as well.