When a producer told Ali Fazal he is a 'confused brand' actor

Mumbai: Actor Ali Fazal says despite giving critically acclaimed performance in films such as "3 Idiots", "Fukrey" and others, filmmakers still find it hard to gamble money on him. 
The actor says sometimes producers get confused by his "brand" which he has created by featuring in films of different genres. 

"Sometimes, producers told me it is hard thing to gamble on you alone and there was one producer who said, 'I am a confused brand', like I am doing a (Vikram) Bhatt film and then something different. I have to grapple before choosing a project, I have to think who is going to produce or present it," Ali told PTI.

Ali says he rejected many films, which according to him were awful, even when he was facing a financial crisis.

"There was a time when I had no money in my account and I turned down the offers even when I was offered lots of money. I had read the script several times but I couldn't say yes to it." 

The actor is no stranger to the world of Hollywood, having done a cameo in Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson-starrer "Furious 7" and acting opposite veteran actor Judi Dench in Oscar-nominated feature "Victoria and Abdul".

"The unions and guilds are strong there, I am sitting here and for the rest of my life, I am going to get royalty for 'Fast and Furious' no matter where it plays in the world. 

"It is little token of respect. I played a little character and I did five-six days of work. I want to work there, I love doing work there. I love working not because of money but for the energy. Things are changing here."

The actor currently stars in Amazon Prime Video's web series "Mirzapur" where he plays Guddu, an innocent college-going boy, who is fascinated by the gangster world.

"I was surprised that they took me for 'Mirzapur'. They took the chance on me. I am glad that they had trust in me. I loved the character graph of Guddu in the series. I got to experiment. I loved being on the edge. I loved that I got to experiment, reinvent myself."

He adds, his parents were unable to recognise him on-screen in "Mirzapur" as he has a beefed up look.

"The world of 'Mirzapur' is special for me because of the writing of how rooted it is, there is drama and relationship, the turmoil. It is a corporate world in many ways and yet it is rooted right in the heart of India."

The series premiered today on November 16.