The latest collaboration between director Ric Roman Waugh and star Gerard Butler comes to theaters this coming Friday, with the Angel Has Fallen and Greenland duo hoping to maintain their 100 percent success rate when Kandahar arrives.
Leading man, producer, and all-round action icon Butler plays an undercover CIA operative deep behind enemy lines in Afghanistan, but when his identity is exposed, he’s forced to undertake a dangerous mission to reach a faraway extraction point in the titular city, with his translator along for the ride.
Needless to say, there are no shortage of adversaries standing between the duo and their destination, and one of them is Ali Fazal’s Kahil, who presents a formidable obstacle. It’s the latest and most different Hollywood role the Indian star has played yet, and it’s one he relished getting stuck into, as he revealed to We Got This Covered.
During our chat, we dive into everything from making his action blockbuster debut in Kandahar to potential future projects in any number of genres, as well as the chances of a return to the Fast & Furious franchise, the directors he wants to work with and much more, which you can check out below.
You haven’t made a lot of Hollywood movies, but seeing as Kandahar is the first major Hollywood movie to release having been shot in Saudi Arabia, you’ve gotten the chance to make a little bit of history with your latest.
Ali Fazal: Yeah, it’s been an interesting journey for me, because most of my work was back in India. But, and I started with, I mean, one of my first big films was – it was a cameo – but that was Fast & Furious 7 that I was part of, and then Victoria & Abdul; which was universal, but it was more of a British film. Kandahar has been… yeah, you’re right. It’s the first American action flick.
So, yeah, I wouldn’t complain. It’s been a very interesting journey. It’s been a journey of learning a lot of new crafts for me, which has been quite enlightening, actually. Yeah. I didn’t expect I would do that on an action film. But Ric Roman Waugh; he’s known for his stuff, his craft is action. We’ve seen it in Greenland and Angel Has Fallen, and all these big films. So he’s really put me through the wringer and made me train quite a lot for this.
It would be an understatement to say that both Gerard and Ric know their way around an action blockbuster, how was that for you coming in as someone who doesn’t necessarily have the same level of experience getting to play around with a couple of veterans on a big Hollywood action film?
Ali Fazal: I think the best part about that is you get hand-holding, you know? You feel comfortable. They’re such amazing people, generous people, Ric is a very, very generous, he’s an actor’s director. I’ve not met such a humble person. And at the same time, he’s somebody who knows how to get his work done. So he, really sort of in the truest sense, collaborates with you.
With Gerry, he’s already been part of so many things, so it’s like he’s the dictionary, right? I can look it up! If I had any doubts, any guidance that I needed, they were there at all times? I mean, Gerry was also a producer on this. So I think he sort of went out of his way to take care of me, and not just me, but all the other guys who were part of the film. So yeah, it’s been it’s been a very humbling experience.
How did you end up getting involved in Kandahar? The role is unlike anything you’ve played before so a lot of people wouldn’t have expected you to take on a part like this, or was that part of the challenge to ensure that you’re always challenging yourself as a performer?
Ali Fazal: I think that’s my personal problem, maybe I get bored if I can predict something, even in my own life, you know? I have to keep reinventing myself. And when I got this part, I think the one thing that was very interesting about Kahil – the part that I’m playing – is that there was something very human that is still left of him, in a land that we all know – geopolitically, politically – is the center for so many ideologies that come together and end up just doing business.
At the end of the day, at the cost of people’s lives. These actual people who are losing their lives are innocent people. But there are so many different ideologies that are just wearing different costumes and saying, “Oh, I believe in this, and therefore I’ll shoot or you believe in that. You’re bad, and you’re good.” And I think what Ric did was, he’s introduced his characters who actually do feel something.
Especially Kahil; he’s, somebody who’s done with this. He’s not even interested in being in the game here. It’s almost like executing the job, because that’s his ticket to probably get out of here. It’s a place that’s rotting in hell. It is hell, essentially, and I think he says it in one of the scenes to his boss, he says “we’re all like maggots eating away at something that’s already rotting.” So I think back to the human side of all these people, because after that you can put the layers in.
I learned dirt biking, I learned how to just be cool on a bike with some really cool bike stunts. Of course, I had my stunt double do some really crazy stuff, which I was not allowed to do myself, but I ended up doing quite a bit. And that was a big one for me, but these are things that you add on. At the essence of it. I think we’re all telling stories. And the stories are very simple, because they’re all connected to some emotion. Because we are the protagonists of our own lives, right? You are of yours. Therefore, we happen.
Even though Kahil as in direct opposition to the hero of the movie, he’s not a cut and dry villain. He’s a complex character with his own set of motivations. So was that a collaborative effort between you and Ric to build that character, or did you know what you wanted to do with it as soon as you read the script?
Ali Fazal: Oh no, I think we built it together. It read a little differently before, and this was way before the pandemic actually, is when Rick brought me this. We had a lovely conversation, and I think that’s where he also got a little inspired to collaborate with me and build something interesting, because at the end of it, he wanted Kahil to be the voice of the suffering man, you know?
Or at least because he himself is not… he’s a double agent himself, pretty much orchestrating everything out there with the different sides, like a broker. But he wanted him to be the voice of reason, in some way or form. And I think we got it some way there, because he comes in spurts. And then he goes, and he comes back, and goes. It’s almost like bringing you back to make you understand that, “Whoa, all of this is not important, and yet human life is important.”
And you have to understand the value of life. And it’s like when people say, “Why is there a war?” I mean, who would understand that war and peace at the same time better than a soldier who’s out there on the battlefield? Who’s he doing all this for? I don’t know! National pride, politics, making the higher-ups happier.
There’s a lot of action in Kandahar – most of it achieved using practical effects – but are there any moments or scenes that stand out to you as a personal highlight of your time making the movie?
Ali Fazal: I think all the sequences that I was part of. Every single time I get that bike started, because I remember my opening shot where I’m – and I remember this was taken, we took it in one single shot, and then I think later we cut it – but I land on the seabed on a helicopter.
And before it even touches down, I’m supposed to open the door, get out, get into my van, the van races off, and then I get up from my my seat and go back to the van and get onto the bike – which is parked inside the van – and then I take that out and have to do a little skid, and then run off the other end. Which was it was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life!
We had sequences like that, we also had some cars blasting off and lifting off some 20 feet in the air. I think we had to shut off the local airport, and be in touch with the locals there, because I think this was the first time a film was being shot in in that area ever. Saudi Arabia’s never opened up for filmmaking before this. So this was the first time they were experiencing something like this. And I think the locals there thought there was an earthquake coming! But it was… I mean, it was just a bunch of us making a movie. So yeah, it was exhilarating. A lot of adrenaline. I think it’s fun!
You’ve tackled a lot of different genres throughout your career on both film and television, but are there any you haven’t had the opportunity to try out yet that stand out as something you need to get ticked off the bucket list
Ali Fazal: Oh, I think good comedy. I haven’t done much comedy, I’ve maybe been part of one or two Bollywood films where I’ve done that, but Or just good drama, family drama, and good romance, romantic films. Even back home, there’s a there’s a show that I’ve done called Mirzapur, which is actually a very high-octane action series, which I’m leading.
And so it’s a range, and it’s like public perception just changes. People think you’re this action hero. And, yeah, I would love to keep changing that. Let’s see, I hope to get more opportunities on this side of the world, your side of the world, to be able to tell more stories, the best possible way.
You made an appearance in the seventh Fast & Furious movie and attended the recent premiere of Fast X in Rome, did you have a word in Vin Diesel’s ear to try and get in on the next one seeing as it’s intended to be the last?
Ali Fazal: You know, they’ve literally grown over the ages and evolved into big, big family. So I thought it was very, very sweet of them and the rest of the Fast team to invite me there to just to finally gather up. I think it’s the last part. But, I mean, it’s always open, and why not? I would love to team up with them again. I think really bad at tooting my own horn and going out there and asking for things. I think, in good time, maybe we would share the stage in some way or form. Let’s see.
If you could make any project of your choosing without restrictions, what would it be and why would it be that?
Ali Fazal: Actually, I wouldn’t have to think much. I literally latch onto a Christopher Nolan film, whatever, whenever he’s doing that. Or Wes Anderson. These are great palette. And at the same time – especially with Nolan – he makes you… he’s a philosopher, he’s a physicist, you know?
I studied physics, I’m a big fan of his stuff, I think, he’s really truly understood the human condition that has been orchestrated by history in time, and he knows how to pack that together, and be able to take out the best from actors. So many other directors… I mean, I think it would boil down to that. If I were to make a movie, to choose the right director, and the rest will follow.
I think there are very few stories in the world, we all end up making different versions of those stories essentially, all across the world. So I think I think the team is really important. So when I’m making a movie that I can make, I’m going to choose the right team, which is the right director and therefore, hopefully, yeah. My gosh, you got me really thinking. That’s my little fantasy.
Kandahar releases in theaters this Friday, May 26.