Ali Fazal is raking in praise for his performance of a layered cop in the series Raakh. Inspired by a sibling double murder that rocked the nation in the 1970s, Raakh has Ali playing a fictional character, one that makes the series more than just a police procedural. t2 caught up for a post-release chat with the actor, who has biggies like Mirzapur the film and Aamir Khan’s Batwara 1947 up for release.

Number 1 non-English series worldwide. Seventh in terms of global series. Over and above all these remarkable figures, what does the overwhelming love that has come in for Raakh so far mean to you?

It is really unprecedented! I didn’t expect this, to be honest. I knew we had something interesting in hand, and on a screenplay level, we were all excited. It is a very refreshing screenplay to be part of and I connected to it from the reading stage itself.

The response has been huge... the show has infiltrated to the cinephiles as well as the janta. The last time this happened was with Mirzapur. It has been really heartwarming.

Some of the feedback has been really surprising. So many people have caught on to so many things. Prosit (Roy, the director of Raakh) called me the other day and said that someone had told him that the way Sonali (Bendre, who plays Mona Arora, the mother of the murdered siblings) was clutching on to something that looked like she was holding a baby. That stunned us, because that was exactly how that scene was envisioned.

I got a long email from a viewer who really got every aspect of what we were trying to say in this series. In fact, he understood so much of what my character hasn’t even said, how JP (Jayprakash Jatav) is shying away from his place in society. This constant battle within him... there is a masculinity and femininity to it. He wrote a bunch of things which were extremely insightful. I wish I could have articulated all of that to myself in that way before performing the character. That is the beauty of things landing the right way among the audience.

What was your first reaction when you read the script? I believe it made you quite emotional...

From the word go, one knows that this is not a regular whodunit. You know who the criminals are. There are so many layers to my character. The stage was set for me at the prep level itself. A great screenplay, for me, is always one that leaves these occasional gaps for the collaboration to really happen on set and for an actor to bring in whatever he or she can to the table. I really enjoy that. My imagination doesn’t allow me to fully build that picture at the paper stage, it only comes to me in total when we are on set.

Honestly, after Mirzapur, I was reluctant to do a long-form series again. But Prosit and I had been wanting to work together for some time and Raakh just fell into my kitty. The timing was right, the subject felt compelling. The hard part was to navigate this character, because a lot about him is felt and not spelt out.

And this is not a regular police procedural. The case is very emotional for your character Jayprakash Jatav...

Yes. He is a normal guy who has reached somewhere in life after studying his way up the ladder and entered the police service. But he has to then suffer the claustrophobia of the system and the murder case he is in charge of suddenly becomes bigger than a lot of other things that he is dealing with, and that includes his identity.

One side of the screenplay has a lot of chaos and the other side has Jayprakash, mostly with his inner dialogue, a part that I was initially scared of because we were worried whether people would really get it. The good thing is that many in the audience have managed to resonate with it.

What did the actor in you bring to a screenplay which was already a winner from the start?

I was prepping for Mirzapur the film last year, which later got pushed a little. I was halfway through that and then Raakh came my way. My look in Raakh is very different from what I have in Mirzapur. I looked a certain way then and I had to use that to my advantage rather than it becoming a hindrance. I wanted to play this character by looking inwards, rather than being a cop who uses his vardi (uniform) to show the akad (arrogance) that comes with power.

I like to think that there are all kinds of people and this can also be a story of this one particular person who has a lot of demons to fight inside. He (Jayprakash) is the product of a single parent and a product of society. The two criminals (Babu and Rajjo) are also products of society, but in ways different from what JP is.

JP’s identity is manifested through various ways, some of them being his job, his relationship with his father and also through food. Did that resonate with you?

One can’t unsee these things because these stories are derived from our own society after all. Of course, Raakh is a dramatised version, but it is also not entirely fictional. Its base is inspired by a true event (the Sanjay and Geeta Chopra murders). But Jayprakash is a fictional character. I liked what (writers) Anusha Nandakumar and Sandeep Saket have done with him, they have humanised him. It is not a power game for him. JP could have become a macho cop, but he isn’t.

He is someone who largely suppresses his feelings. That bit must have felt alien to you...

It did, but I also got it... I think we all get it. As humans, we are essentially what we hide. All of us are constantly projecting on some level or the other. That is my biggest observation of the human condition. It is there everywhere in the world and more so in our country because we have a lot of people and a society that demands a lot of check marks. We are constantly trying to fit in and please the people around us. It is perhaps that familiarity that helped me navigate this character. As actors, we are bound to be observant and compassionate enough to understand basic human emotions.

You have two huge film releases coming up — Batwara 1947 in August and Mirzapur the film in September. You have always maintained that as an actor, you like to operate in spaces that make you uncomfortable. Was Mirzapur, in that sense, a tad more comfortable because you have played Guddu Pandit over three seasons now?

Mirzapur is familiar territory, but it is always refreshing. The hard part in Mirzapur the film was to unlearn and unmemorise what I have already done with the character (Guddu) since we are going in fresh for the film. It also has the OG cast from Season One. It is a standalone film in many ways.

I have a special appearance in Batwara 1947. I am really excited to be a part of it. I think it is an important and necessary film. It is directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, produced by Aamir Khan and has Sunny Deol, the wonderful Shabanaji (Shabana Azmi) and Preity Zinta in the cast. I couldn’t have asked for anything better.

What about Hollywood projects?

I am very excited about all the work happening here, but my international work is also a big part of my life. I hope to announce something soon. We are working on two projects. One is a show and another a film, but none are happening very soon. I think they will begin early next year.

And what next from you and Richa Chadha (wife) as producers?

We are developing projects. Being working actors, we often get caught up with our acting work and that pushes back things as producers. In fact, we get slowed down more than others because we are independent producers and we come back to square one after every film. We have to start digging for the right investors to come on board and carefully choose the people we partner with. We are developing two very cool films. Both are script-ready and we are excited about it. Let’s see when we can find the time.

Besides Mirzapur, my favourite Ali Fazal role is...
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