He stands tall and is a person at ease with himself. Unruffled by competition, he believes his career graph is going the way it should be. Ahmed Ali Akbar is growing from strength to strength with exciting projects in the offering. His next feature film ‘Gunjal’ is all set to release across cinemas on December 15. We at Fashion Times Magazine spoke to the actor to have an insight about the film.
Excerpts from the interview.
From Karachi Se Lahore to Parchi with a ‘Laal Kabootar’ in between to now Gunjal, has this experimentation with genres been a deliberate one?
It’s not deliberate it just happened. All these scripts landed in my lap, they were different and diverse. The good thing about this profession and career is that you do not know what will come around the corner. And that is the most exciting and driving force behind me staying in this profession. I am a person who likes to try different things all the time and I am glad to be a part of them.
Did you break down at any point while enacting Shahbaz Bhatti?
Every character that I have portrayed has ignited something in me. There are moments in Gunjal when my character Shahbaz Bhatti gets to know about the issue of child labor around him. Even though it has been around us all our lives we somehow overlook it. Bhatti went through a change in his life, and so did I. The moment the veil uplifts, I take notice of life through the lens of an activist aiming to bring some kind of change. There was a moment when I saw a child picking food from the trash, I couldn’t take it.
Does Gunjal bring in some kind of pressure on you?
Not at all! I don’t take pressure in terms of career and profession. I trust the universe whatever it holds for me even if it’s success or failure. There are ups and downs. The only thing I want is that people should go and watch Gunjal. The film celebrates the legacy of an important hero of Pakistan Iqbal Masih, who unfortunately passed away at a very young age. We need to celebrate his legacy and send the vibration of his message throughout.
Do you think this is one of the best phases of your career right now?
I hope not. I hope this is one of the ups. I hope the best phase of my career will be at the age of 60 where I can challenge myself and try to do good stories and characters.
