Ali Fazal to star with British legend Judi Dench As incredible as it sounds, this is fact, not fiction. The young star, who made quite an impact internationally with his small role in Fast and Furious 7, has now landed a pivotal role opposite the British acting legend. So how did this happen Ali laughs and says, “It was really quite simple. Some weeks ago I heard Nandini Shrikant was casting for a film called Victoria & Abdul, which was about the friendship between Queen Victoria and her Indian Muslim assistant who travels to England to be with her. I contacted Nandini, but she said all the auditions for Abdul’s role were already done. I insisted on sending my audition and twenty days later Nandini called to say I was selected. Apparently, my audition was the only one they liked.”

The film is based on the book Victoria & Abdul: The True Story Of The Queen’s Closet Confidant by Shrabani Basu. For the character, Ali has brushed up his Urdu. “The relationship is very unusual and unorthodox. It’s going to be a challenging part of my career. Luckily, I am already acquainted with Urdu because my nana and nani created an environment early on where I could imbibe the language.”

As for romancing Judy, Ali says, “I am sanctioned by the script to flirt with her.”

An enthused Ali tells us about the schedule and says, “We are doing the film in one long schedule later this year. We shoot in Scotland and London and there is one long spell in Florence. I am very excited. It is like the beginning of a new phase in my career.”