Annette Bening
Oh man she's just beautiful. I think I had a little crush on her
What would you describe Gal Gadot as?
Actually, well very beautiful, very punctual and actually very hard working
And no update on that
You know that day I tweeted, I saw the tweet.
No, we just like it when love stories work, we just like it
when love stories have their happy, happy endings
Listen, this is a love story that is working and how. Okay, and we are very happy
You know what you know the last page right? I mean come on
I’m sure half of the actors will go straight to the last page
looking that if my character is dead or not
I think that would be Mirzapur also
I know every season we have to check. Bloody hell everyone's dying there
Hi Ali, welcome to Pinkvilla
Firstly, you know there's so much excitement for Death on The Nile because it's finally
releasing so I thought you know instead of asking you first about Death on The Nile I thought
I will ask you about your co-stars who you love so much
Who's most likely to always be on their phone? Like they're always on their phone
Tom Bateman. Okay he's always on his phone
Who's most likely to be late on set? Nobody
Nobody. Okay, everyone was on time yeah. Oh yeah everybody was on time through the
whole two and a half months. In fact, I was scared that I’ll be late but I think you know I got
trained well and I wouldn't be late because every morning I had to be called in one hour early
because I had to have this full shave for at least an hour so yeah
Yeah, who is most likely to get away with murder from any of your co-stars?
I don't know would I be giving out, you can choose right
No, no, no, no not revealing spoilers but
Actually, I would say oh, as actor I think Kenneth Branagh himself you know the director
Who's most likely to always be a perfectionist in everything they do?
Kenneth Branagh. He is living legend I think and of course we know that now because
Death on The Nile is one and of course he's just come out with
six nominations for his film with the Oscars, Belfast
Who's most likely to be the biggest prankster on set?
Dawn French, she was yeah
Yeah, and any pranks played on set?
I think would it be I remember actually even Russell Brand.
I would imagine, he was quite yeah totally. He was very, very funny. We were mucking
about a lot I think making you know some very interesting
jokes here and there but I don't remember exactly what pranks we played yeah
Who's most likely to be a social media butterfly like they love
social media? You can pick yourself also
Yeah, me I think amongst that cast definitely me and maybe
Gal for some reason I think she's quite in on her social media
Who's most likely to be best at improvisation?
Dawn French again. Very, very good she is I mean she's known for her comedy but she was
yeah, she can really improvise and then do some wonders. Oh yeah
Who's most likely to kill it in a karaoke bar with their singing skills?
Oh my God. Annette Bening
Oh, that's an interesting choice. Oh yeah
And finally, who's most likely to give away spoilers? If you like point blank ask them for spoilers
Actually, Kenneth Branagh himself, it's amazing. He's supposed to not give anything but he's
so cute and he's so sweet you ask him straight away he'll end up telling you the whole story
You know speaking of your co-stars because you know you've shared on social media the
bond that you'll created on set, if you had to describe your
co-stars in one word what would you describe Gal Gadot as?
Actually well, very beautiful, very punctual, actually very
hard working I think the thing we were all
Kenneth, of course you know he's a powerhouse I mean he's someone who with his work ethic
because he's also he's done a lot of theatre, he comes from you know the discipline of stage I
think he was very, very methodical when he was
approaching this film as because he has to
play Hercule Poirot, he has to play director and take care of all of us actors so
Annette Bening?
Oh man, she's just beautiful. I think I had a little crush on her. I think she's yeah; I mean
we've seen her since God forever you know in the movies so I had some very, very
interesting conversations with her but I think everyone, you
know we all brought something very interesting
Russell Brand? I'm very curious about this
He's someone who is actually very knowledgeable. Someone you know he's doing so much
of course I don't know if you've heard his podcasts and you know he's ever since he's been
you know sober which is I don't know years ago now 20 years almost you know he's really,
really, I think become a very spiritual man. So, I remember he gifted me this
book on meditation and I still have it, I read it that time it's very helpful
You know speaking of Death on The Nile you know as an actor you get the script right
and you know what the ending is but you might be playing a character who may or may not
know who done it so how do you play such a character where you're supposed to pretend as if
you don't know what the end is but as an actor you know what the ending is, how do you do that?
I suppose that's our job, right? In every film you know the last page, right? I mean come on
I’m sure half of the actors will go straight to the last page
looking that if my character is dead or not
I think that would be Mirzapur also
I know every season we have to check. Bloody hell everyone's dying there
No, I think that is something you know you have to prepare as an actor, you have to because
sometimes we're also shooting in all kinds of, we don't go chronologically in order because of
locations or whatever. So, it becomes hard you have to train yourself to kind of not be in that
world and yet not know the end and not know the next step. But that’s pure craft
You know I also find very admirable how you have you know made a mark in Hollywood
where you know you're not just playing minor roles but you're actually playing roles which
matter, irrespective of the duration you know of the screen time so what I wanted to ask is
given how you worked both in the west and you are working here as well do you actually see
a difference in the filmmaking process or do you think it's more or less the same?
I’ve been asked this question before. I think and it's very hard to answer because I think I’ve
also been somehow been and I’m not complaining the films in Hollywood that I’ve been part
of have been actually very extravagant I mean almost not the normal films, they're not the
normal indie films, they're not the medium budget films, they've been very high. I mean
starting with Fast and Furious then you have Victoria and Abdul which is you know Universal
Studios so you know they're already playing to the galleries across the globe. Death on The
Nile is releasing in a record number of theatres, it's probably been my biggest release
anywhere so I can't compare the two worlds whereas in India I’m part of the Hindi film
industry which is amongst the other film industries as well so yeah it will be unfair for me to
do that because the economy changes, the economics of it changes
And you know we obviously see your real-life friendship with Gal Gadot on social media but
I’m curious to know how is she as an acting partner, you know
working opposite or working with Wonder Woman? How is that experience?
Very sweet. Really sweet. I think everybody was really sweet but she's very kind because
she's also someone who’s you know in such a short span of time, she's skyrocketed to
stardom you know especially playing Wonder Woman and all the other characters and being
part of DC in such a big way but for her to kind of come back from there into something like
this which is a classic, who done it, which is a classic film, Agatha Christie you know she’s a
very giving actor. Very friendly, we'll all be sitting together you know every day because if
you once you watch the film, you'll realise we're all like one big unit kind of going together.
You know from the hotel to the boat to the ship and of course whoever's left comes off the ship.
So that I won't tell you but yeah very, very sweet
And I know you must be getting this question all the time but, in an interview, you had said
that February-march is when you and Richa might be going towards you know a wedding but
is there any update on that because we'd like to be really happy for you guys and no update
You know that day I tweeted, I saw the tweet
No, we just like it when love stories work, we just like it when love stories have their happy, happy endings
Listen, this is a love story that is working and how. Okay, and we are very happy I just you
know I think everybody and I don't blame it I think it's really flattering that everybody is
waiting for us to kind of pinpoint and put a date but you know in good time you know I think
we've also been busy with our work and there have been very good distractions with all our
friends in the industry who are getting married and who are getting you know doing their
thing so I said okay, you know keep the paps busy with that, we'll do our thing. Don't worry.
And you know even with your upcoming projects there's obviously you know there's
Mirzapur three, there's Fukrey three but I’m also very excited for Kandahar you know I hope
I’ve pronounced it correctly but there’s just so much like it feels like such a you know it's
going to be a really good film. But how is that working process
been for you, you know how is it working with Gerard and the rest of the cast?
Oh, amazing. What a cast. I mean Naveed Negahban, Gerard Butler you know so many
people. I've never done an action film like that I mean be it India or there because I mean
Mirzapur sure, is a lot of action but it's a lot of hand combat or very close you know stuff. You
know as many know it's a city in Afghanistan so we've created that in the middle of this place
called Al-'Ula where we were shooting and it's I mean I’m blessed because it was Ridic
Roman Waugh who was directing this film. I mean he's done London Has Fallen, Olympus
Has Fallen, Green Land, all these big huge blockbusters so you know of course there's one
where's Death on The Nile which is very you know poshed, old school
It's more prose than action
But suddenly there's Kandahar which is out and out you know I think people are really going
to love, it's lots of adrenaline got a very Lawrence of Arabia vibe meets 2021 with our current
situation in the world and these people like just going after each other you know and yeah
and he's such a wonderful man, I mean not just sharing screen space with him but also off
screen because we were all staying together in the same hotel there and you know it's a
friendship I like to say, I would like to be cherished for a long time yeah
Anyways we have to wrap up but I’m so happy to see you in Hollywood projects, you know
making a mark the way you are and thank you so much Ali and hopefully Death on The Nile
will be like a huge success. Thank you.
Thank you. Thank you. I hope you like it.