Can’t see ‘Freaky Ali’ working without Nawazuddin: Sohail

Actor-filmmaker Sohail Khan says it is his good fortune that Nawazuddin Siddiqui joined the cast of ‘Freaky Ali’.

Sohail said he wanted to make a film on the game of golf “People think it’s an elitist game meant for the rich and the privileged. My basic premise for the film was what if someone from the lower strata of the society, in this case an undergarment seller from small town, gets thrown into the vast elitist green acres of golf?

“What if this simpleton doesn’t know of the existence of the expert golfer within him? That’s how this film started.”

This is where writer Raaj Shaandilya came to help Sohail co-write the script.

“I’ve known him from the time he was working on ‘Comedy Circus’. I was a judge on the show. I needed his sensibility in ‘Freaky Ali’.”

Sohail also needed Nawazuddin to play Freaky Ali. “It’s my good Fortunethat Nawaz came on board. I can’t see this film working without him.”

Nawazuddin, admits Sohail, has become a part of Sohail’s family. “It’s really very simple in our family. If you love us, we love you back. If you are hostile towards us, then that’s what you get from the family.”

Apart from movies, Sohail, who has directed “Freaky Ali”, says he has always been interested in sports.

“I play cricket and a lot of other games. In fact, I’ve starred in a film on boxing ‘Aryan’ which didn’t do well. I feel it came ahead of its time,” he said.

“Aryan” director Abhishek Kapoor recently moved on to “Fitoor”, which bombed at the box office.

Sohail said: “He could have made a dozen Aryans with the kind of money he spent on ‘Fitoor’ or maybe, even the whole ‘Rocky’ series.”