March 3, 2002

Ali Kazmi, the 20-year-old son of television stars, Sahira and Rahat Kazmi, took to television while he was still in diapers. It was pretty natural for the two year old Ali, who made his first appearance in the musical video, Watan ki Mitti, by Nayara Noor. By then, the journey to stardom had begun — at four Ali was playing Sahira’s son in a television play, Anjanay mein.

“I was a complete entertainer really. At home I danced and mimicked the actions of people I was familiar with.”

This pastime was encouraged by his family which eventually helped in his acting abilities. “I enjoy entertaining people. I was always part of the drama society and I did a lot of stage plays for both my school and college.”

His passion for theatre continued as Ali would be seen helping backstage, looking after entire sets. He feels stage is more challenging as there are ‘no holds barred’ and also that emotionally it is ‘electrifying’ to see the audience right in front, reacting to the actors expressions and dialogue.

 

Ali Kazmi says he notices people whispering amongst themselves while looking at him or pointing in his direction. ‘Sometimes one of them comes up to me and asks to sign his or her autograph book and it is a great feeling’
 

“Modelling is fun too, but not as much as acting. In fact, in modelling one has to be a little stiff and act as a hanger for designers’ creations. I just wish that modelling in this country would be treated with some more respect, because for a lot of models this is their means of earning,” he says.

Film making is Ali’s passion. But while he says he plans to follow it, he still would like to get into it only after completing his education in engineering. He still plans to continue with his career as actor cum model, “as they are a permanent part of my life.”

Ali likes to keep himself busy. If it is not acting then it’s sports. “I basically enjoy life to the maximum because life, I believe, is too short to worry about things. One should always look at the bigger and better picture and live everyday to the fullest.”

Ali’s favourite play, in which he acted as well, is his mother’s Meethi meethi baatein which was written by Bushra Ansari. “It was totally a lighthearted comedy. I enjoyed working in it; the cast and the crew were a cheerful lot — my mother, well umm... she knows what she wants from her actors and she gets it one way or the other even if she has to beat it out of them,” he remarked laughingly.

Using her children in her plays he says:

“Well, she’s always extra cautious with my sister (Nida Kazmi) and I, because she doesn’t want people to think that she’s taken us on just because we’re her kids. So therefore, sometimes we do get the extra shout or two if we don’t deliver the line or the expressions properly. She is known to be the ‘Hitler’ among directors if the actors are not working well. But then again she’s not all that bad as she has this rule of life: her theory is that anything worth doing is worth doing well and she follows it up herself — also at home as a mother!”

Ali has just once worked with Rahat Kazmi, and that was in Zikar hai kai saal ka, written by Dr. Enver Sajjad and directed by Sahira Kazmi. Ali played his son! “This was actually my first slightly grown up role on TV. Dad is a pure professional, and is one of the few old-school actors. He studies his role hard before attempting it. We also had quite a few laughs at my mother’s expense because whenever she would give any instructions and try to be strict on the sets, Dad and I would burst out laughing.”

On the fame front he says that he can notice people whispering amongst themselves while looking at him or pointing in his direction. “Sometimes one of them comes up to me and asks for my autograph and, well that is a great feeling. One of the funniest yet cutest things people do is making dumb calls to my house, always in a jittery voice, not being able to ask for me especially because the people who answer the phone usually are much bigger stars than I am (my parents). It can also be quite embarrassing when people recognize you in front of your friends because then one’s friends never let go. Then there have been places where I’ve gone to and where people don’t say a word or fail to recognize me, but then my friends, they always start screaming: ‘ooh, is it Ali Kazmi the actor? The Polo man? Please give us an autograph, please! Please!’ That’s really embarrassing, as well.”

However Ali agrees that recognition is one of the charms and delights of showbiz which he adores. He feels this is one way of knowing whether the audience appreciates your work or think of you as a complete nincompoop.

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