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Birthday Love: Ali Fazal’s five most memorable characters

For someone who made his Bollywood debut in a cameo appearance in ‘3 Idiots’ (2009), has since gone onto become one of the most versatile actors and recognised name in the industry. Ali Fazal has managed to not only carve a successful career in Hindi cinema but across the pond in Hollywood also.

15th October marks Fazal’s 35th birthday and to celebrate BizAsiaLive.com looks back at five of his most memorable characters.

Joy Lobo – ‘3 idiots’ (2009)
As mentioned, ‘3 Idiots’ (2009) was Fazal’s debut appearance in Bollywood, however, little did anyone know how memorable his small part was going to be for audiences. Playing a student in an engineering college with only one aspiration, to successfully complete his project building a drone and graduating to make his dad proud, though if anyone has seen the film will know it ends tragically. It was hard hitting and raised the awareness of mental health and suicide with many students sharing how relatable this storyline was.

Guddu (Gurpreet) Singh – ‘Happy Bhag Jayegi’ (2016)
Fazal pairs up with Diana Penty in this light-hearted rom-com drama. The pair who plan to elope and get married find themselves in a bit of pickle, when Happy (Penty) runs away from her wedding ceremony to Daman Singh Bagga (Jimmy Shergill), somehow ends up in Lahore when things get complicated. It’s a fun easy watch as Fazal shows his cheeky, humorous side as the musician who just wants to marry his sweetheart. His onscreen chemistry with Abhay Deol (Bilal Ahmed), Piyush Mishra (Usman Afridi) and Shergill is flawless and really refreshing to see.

Safar – ‘Fast and Furious 7’ (2015)
One of the biggest franchises in Hollywood with the most impressive cast ensemble you can find, Fazal makes his Hollywood debut as Safar. He plays a mechanic who owns a garage in Abu Dhabi and is a friend of Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel). After what he thought was a great idea of selling the valuable God’s Eye chip to a billionaire, he offers to help retrieve the chip back. Though only present for a few scenes, it was worthwhile seeing Fazal in full character as an Emirati. He held his own among the big names he was working with and that too on a global scale.

Abdul Karim – ‘Victoria and Abdul’ (2017)
Fazal steps into the shoes of Abdul Karim, an Indian attendant who comes to England to serve Queen Victoria (Dame Judi Dench) who is later promoted to Munshi as well as becoming the Queen’s closest friend. Fazal manages to captivate the audience with his performance in this film and his chemistry with Dench is absolutely joyful to watch; it is charming and emotional, and demonstrates how exceptional he is as an actor. He not only makes his mark in this film but does so while complementing his co-star, who is no less of a queen in reality.

Guddu Pandit – ‘Mirzapur’ (2018)
When ‘Mirzapur’ (2018) was released nobody knew what to expect. Fazal who plays Guddu bhaiya in the web series, leaves his familiar innocent and sweet looks behind and transforms into a wrestler-gangster, and you can see how much preparation Fazal has put in to achieve the end result. His performance was second-to-none and it was great to see him take on an unconventional role, adding another feather to his cap.

Fazal has also ticked off the horror genre too with ‘Khamoshiyan’ (2015) and has been in various supporting roles in films such as ‘Baat Ban Gayi’ (2013), ‘Bobby Jasoos’ (2014) and ‘Sonali Cable’ (2014).

Next year he will be seen in the Hollywood production ‘Death On The Nile’ which is based on a novel by Agatha Christie and includes an all-star cast of suspects.

The team at BizAsiaLive.com wishes Ali Fazal a very happy birthday!