Ali Abbas Zafar kick-started his direction career with YRF’s movie Mere Brother Ki Dulhan starring Imran Khan and Katrina Kaif.
In a recent Mid-Day interview, Ali mentioned how Yash Raj Films is completely run by outsiders while talking about the insider and outsider debate.
He said, “I’ve worked with the best lot of the industry, thanks to Aditya Chopra who’s instrumental in making me who I’m today. I think it’s a creative industry no matter where you come from. If you don’t have that bone in you of originating something from nothing, whether you’re a director, a writer, a cameraman. The famous joke in the industry is that it’s run by people from North and Delhi.“
Spilling the beans on an inside joke, Ali continues saying, “This is a joke in YRF too because if you see all the directors, Kabir Khan, Vijay Krishna Acharya, Maneesh Sharma, Habib Faizal, we all have studied there. This whole insider and outsider thing means Yash Raj is fully run by outsiders. This is a joke, at least creatively.“
He also talks about his career saying he has been fortunate enough to have a successful one. “In my career, I’ve been fortunate enough and God has been very kind.”
Zafar’s project, Mr India, is an upcoming superhero film where the superhero is a common man who attempts to fight off a big bad villain. Talking about the project he says, “It’s a completely new film, we are just calling it Mr India. My film is essentially about the common man fighting a mighty villain, but done in a cool, hip way, using science and technology and being relevant to today’s social scenario.”
“I am creating a superhero universe, beginning with Katrina’s film. We then move to Mr India, which will carry forward bits from Katrina’s film, and we are developing two more characters. My third superhero is rooted in Indian mythology and the fourth comes from the Indian army,“ he concluded.