With his pleasant manner and charming personality, one wonders how Asif Ali bagged the best villain award for his performance in Apoorvaragam in 2010. The star, however, says that he is not such a nice boy.
“People mistake my mischievous glances for innocence; in fact I am extremely naughty and not so innocent,” says Asif.
As a boy of 17, Asif fought with his family to follow his tinsel town dreams in Kochi. While everyone thought that he would fail, Asif stuck to his goal and never stopped believing that he would make it one day.
“I am greatly indebted to the Almighty and also to my single mindedness that helped me conquer the heights I only dreamt of,” says Asif, while explaining how his family opposed his dreams of becoming a star and had even compelled him to go abroad to pursue business education.
However, things are different now and not only his family, but the entire State agrees that Asif is here to stay in Malayalam cinema.
The star had been much talked about after his alleged outburst against Prithviraj who had said that the new generation stars lacked seriousness. “Whatever happened then was purely a media-created controversy.
We are good friends and not many know that. I don’t find any reason for comparing the two of us as we come from totally different backgrounds.
After all, he belongs to a cinema family and has now completed almost a decade in the industry while I am too new and my upbringing is that of a strictly orthodox Muslim family, where cinema itself is a strange commodity,” explains the star.
Asif adds that the world will see the rapport between Prithvi and him for the first time when they will play the Celebrity Cricket League match for Kerala Strikers.
Cinema, however, will always be the be all and end all for the star. “I am so much in love with cinema that later when I am married, I don’t want to break away from films.”
Since he has brought up the topic of a life partner, we probe a bit more.
“My life is highly unpredictable. I can’t say whether my dream girl will be from the film industry or not but typically, the girl in my mind is a classic Malabari monjathi (a Malabar beauty). At the same time, I am looking for a girl who can understand my profession and won’t question me about my schedule,” he reveals.
Having acted opposite some of the most beautiful actresses in the industry, Asif says that he has good chemistry with each of them.
“Rima Kallingal is my best friend ever since I met her on the first day at the sets of Rithu. She has even helped me financially during my tough times in the industry.
Though initially many thought that something was going on between me and Archana Kavi, they later realised that we hardly made such a pair. Nithya Menon is yet another good friend of mine and we look good on screen together,” he adds.