ALI FAZAL INTERVIEW

The New Black Film Collective recently sat down with acclaimed actor Ali Fazal to discuss his latest project, Rule Breakers (2025), a film inspired by the extraordinary true story of Roya Mahboob and the all-girl Afghan robotics team she helped bring to the world stage. In this intimate and thoughtful conversation, Ali reflects on the responsibility of telling a story rooted in real events, the emotional weight of portraying a character who supports young women pursuing STEM against unimaginable odds, and the power of cinema to shift narratives in a world still defined by conflict and division. 

 Throughout the interview, Ali speaks candidly about representation, the urgency of championing women’s stories, breaking stereotypes within global cinema, and the role of film in inspiring possibilities where hope is often scarce. From discussing the filmmaking process to sharing insights on diversity, storytelling, and the impact of world cinema, his reflections offer a moving reminder of why films like Rule Breakers matter now more than ever. 

TNBFC: Hi Ali, thank you once again for agreeing to have an interview with The New Black Film Collective, we really appreciate it. And your film, Rule Breakers - amazing. Can you tell us about the process of making this film? 

Ali: I think it's a very very interesting team that came together on this particular film to make it come out the way it came out because it's a very diverse bunch of people. I remember, Bill Gutentag, the director, called me. I, like many others, played an important part in this wonderful story and it's been inspired by true events and Roya Mahboob's life. It’s based on that so these are very key events in her journey where my character comes in and he is a techie from the United States and kind of helps the girls sort of get a little head start and clears Roya’s headspace on how to go about this mammoth vision, which is to bring all these girls from Afghanistan as a robotics team and go for for the championships. So it was quite an experience actually, I really enjoyed my time, and it is a very thoughtful, sensitive subject as well considering the world right now. I’m glad we pulled it off excellently.

TNBFC: Doing a film that is representative of women, did you have any second thoughts or concerns about that or did you feel you were able to do the film from their lens/perspective?  

Ali: No I don't think that really crossed my mind because, of course I am aware the film is about women essentially and how she spearheaded this entire movement but no, I wasn't made aware at any point in time or kind of felt any differently other than just wanting to champion this wonderful script. I think we need more narratives that champion women in society, who have really done some amazing work. Sometimes it goes unnoticed or unrecorded in history, we've seen that so I think these are baby steps. 

TNBFC: Absolutely! I think around the world there are not enough women in STEM. Do you think your film in some way addresses that? 

Ali: Oh yeah, for sure, we had a lovely chat about this in London in fact, very recently in the parliament. Our team was there, we had a screening as well and we were talking about STEM education and how the film does kind of give you an overview of how that is possible. Of course, there is so many places right now with so many wars across the globe, that the end of the day its always the civilians that gets affected, so education is one of the biggest things that goes out the window, because its a flight for survival and that is the last thing in people's mind, but it is also the most essential thing. I am glad that we can still make film narratives that can maybe give certain glimpses of STEM, and other ways that it is possible to uplift societies that have gone through this and much more over the years currently in the future, it's really important we do this. 

TNBFC: I agree, I mean I still think when people think about films and women and STEM they think of Hidden Figures, which was a backdrop of civil rights so I think film is still very important today, and it differs across cultures which can have its own issues. Do you think the film has played into any stereotypes? Do you get that criticism at all? 

Ali: No, as an Indian I played a techie, but it's again based on a true story so l can't really fall into a stereotype. This film does not have any stereotypes such as those but yeah, cinema these days does. I think we are still fighting. I think on so many levels women have a certain group and then there is segregation according to colour, to religion. We still have to get out of that. I remember growing up in all my years. I have seen muslims have always been terrorists, it has always been like that, so this is an image that goes in your mind and now all it takes is one photograph and you are like 'Oh my God'. Cinema and visual mediums are so important we need to change the narrative so that people… so there is so much more than this visual manipulation we've been subjected to over the years. 

TNBFC: That's correct it's absolutely it and I can totally relate from the Black community it's slavery, crime sort of thing and we've tried so hard not to have that backdrop. Having the conflict of the world affecting the women, do you feel the film brought through another message as well as the achievement? 

Ali: I think it speaks for itself and speaks really loud and clear that wherever there is an opportunity it's possible to break those barriers and preconceived notions that we've just built, these walls that we have built around us. And you can reach the stars, it is just how you approach it and I think that's really important. Again, like you mentioned it's the women and the children that are affected and are always going to feel the burn the most, and it's really sad that there is so many organisations and we haven't been able to stop war, it is so depressing  but at the same time cinema is about a huge change and I think that it's on us, that we keep carrying on. 

TNBFC: Were you influenced by other film makers? Were you able to do a lot of the workshopping/ rehearsing with the actors?  

Ali: It was a tight script. Of course Bill must have had his inspirations, he is also very well known director, who usually does a lot of documentaries and short film and I think this was the world of fiction, which he adds freshness to because he brought the documentation value, whilst at the same time telling a story that is so global. So I think we had our path very clear, we knew what we wanted and I'm glad I could be part of that journey. We did a couple workshops but most of my rehearsals were with Bill and 2 or 3 actors.  

TNBFC: When it comes to playing the character, was it a long process or did it come naturally to you? 

Ali: I think it begins with the way the character is gonna look, where he was based out of, the way he would speak, the accent would be different, even though it’s an Indian origin person, so those are things I suppose, we actors do the homework and the rest of it was all Bill and the way he wanted to keep it very fluid. The dialogues were written down so we workshopped and rehearsed those. I think Bill was very open to suggestions and improvisations that came along the way which sometimes helps and he would keep us in control and in check.  

TNBFC: Do you feel like you personally get a lot of variety when it comes to roles? 

Ali: I think so. I have been blessed because I did a large amount of films and shows in India and a have different roles back home in the Bollywood industry, but on the international side I have been lucky to be part of very diverse studio films, I am glad a could play a part like this and my next one is something very different. It is funny actually, the film that I have just done before Rule Breakers, was a film called Gandhar where I was speaking Pashto, and I was playing a character that was based out of Afghanistan and Keta and that entire region and is sort of a loner spy of sorts. It was interesting to see the other side, the effects of all of that violence because it was a hardcore action-packed film that Gerard Butler and myself worked on.  

TNBFC: Excellent, what do you feel is the influence of Hollywood? Do you think you need Hollywood to have fulfilled a career as an actor?  

Ali: I wouldn’t say Hollywood, but world cinema is important. I had a very different world view when I hadn’t stepped out of my country to work in international cinema, and the moment you work outside and share notes with everybody else, a lot makes sense because with Hollywood, automatically I have access to a lot of countries where my movies are playing. Where I am working is one unit within a unit. India has over 100 languages, we have lot of states and the Hindi speaking audience is limited, and there’s other languages such as Tamil and Malala and Punjabi that make their own cinema, different languages and dialects, so I think that gives me a lot of exposure all across the globe so I would take that any day.  

TNBFC: What would you like to see for Rule breakers in the UK? How would you like audiences to embrace it?

Ali: I hope people like it. Besides all of the heavy stuff, it's also a slice of life film, its like any other sports film as well and just for that, I think it’s a great watch but at the same time, I hope there’s more conversation around STEM and some sort of realisation that this is one film and one reality and we are living in a time of multiple realities all hitting us at the same time and far worse. So this is a story from 2017 and it is brought to you right now. It still tells so many things that we could pick up. I could look180 degrees and find something wrong and pick it up and talk about it. It might fit the narrative. It’s important we do. 

TNBFC: That’s wonderful. Have you been to the UK? Have you done films in the UK?  

Ali: Yes, my first major film was shot in London, it was called Victoria and Abdul. I worked with Jude Dench and I played Abdul, that was the first time I worked there. I spent a lot of time in London, months and months while we were filming Death In The Nile, then I was back. I keep going back now, hoping to maybe do stage some time, could be my second home hopefully, we’ll see. 

TNBFC: Wonderful, we’d love to have you, thank you so much  

Ali: Thank you  

Rule Breakers was released on Prime Video on 17th November 2025