Ali Zafar on Total Siyapa, his upcoming com-com and abstinence!

“Puttar don’t come back crying when he marries twice, thrice…FOUR times!” says a devastated Kiron Kher, the heroine’s (Yami Gautum) mother. “Wasn’t it bad enough that he’s Muslim; BUT PAKISTANI? Hai Hai!!!”

In an exaggerated avatar, that’s Kiron Kher at her comic best, very similar to her role in Dostana, where she had to bless her ‘gay’ son and his partner. In many ways Total Siyapa (formerly known as Aman Ki Asha) will be even more controversial as it’s about an Indian girl falling for a Pakistani boy. And the boy: our very favourite, Ali Zafar. The film releases on January 31 and I really hope the Pakistani censors don’t kill our hopes of watching it in Pakistan.

How do I know? I know because Ali Zafar, passing through Karachi between movie and commercial shooting, was kind enough to share the unreleased trailer with me. It was an absolute riot.

At Cafe Flo, Ali chose to indulge in chilli crab legs and two kinds of fish dishes, since he’s on complete carb withdrawal these days. No matter how ‘withdrawn’ he feels without sugar in his life, nothing changes that charming smile 🙂 And no, he didn’t touch the bread basket or the potato gratin.

Moreover, people who know him from his Channo days would not recognize Ali today. Eating (or rather, not eating) his way to a six-pack, he’s been on total carb and sugar abstinence for several months and withdrawal is giving his personality as well as his physique a makeover. He’s got the aura of a superstar who’s pushing himself to the very edge of his endurance to achieve new heights of fame. Ali is Pakistan’s biggest success story today but best of all, he’s a star who turns back to his home at every possible opportunity.

He will be producing his very first Pakistani film next year, simply because he wants to “do something that’ll help lift our film industry and bring smiles to our people,” he said. He’s chosen to begin his filmmaking career with a comedy, as he feels people come to the cinema to be entertained.

“It’s something that Amitabh Bachchan said to me and I have grasped at,” he shared, adding that Senior Bachchan is the only Bollywood star that left him starstruck. “Cinema (at least in India and the same would apply to Pakistan) is where people spend three hours to see poetic justice being served.”

I agree, and proof is in the pie. It’s the reason that WAAR is such a huge success; it serves the common man a dose of what he wants to see. And along with poetic justice, the common man wants something that’ll help him forget his personal troubles. For many that translates to comedy.

Ali’s current look, however, isn’t comic at all. The long hair and beard complement the assassin that he’s playing in Kill Dill. What’s that all about? It’s the Ali Zafar, Ranveer Singh and Parineeta Chopra starrer with Govinda as villain so it will break a couple of stereotypes, including Ali Zafar as rom-com hero. The high protein diet pitched with two grinding work out sessions a day are the makings of a six pack and beyond that, I guess we’ll have to wait till September 2014 to see the film!

Till then, the hilarious trailer of Total Siyapa is releasing soon…