After a successful career in television, Aamir Ali is exploring opportunities in the world of OTT and films. We caught up with the actor who plays a rogue agent in Disney+ Hotstar’s Lootere, co-created by Hansal Mehta and directed by his son Jai Mehta.

How did Lootere happen to you?

Aamir Ali: I got a call from the casting agency of Mukesh Chhabra. They fixed up my meeting with director Jai Mehta. Shaailesh (creator-producer) had already told me about this project. But there’s a process that we have to follow. I did a test with Jai, and yeah, that was it.

Did your faith in the show and your character grow over time since your character comes into the picture much later?

Aamir Ali: I worked with Hansal Mehta in Faraaz (2023). I remember him telling me something that stuck with me. He said, ‘A lot of people are talking a lot of things about you. They talk about the way you dress up or you do your funny things, you do your stuff. But no one spoke about your acting to me’. And that made me realise that I need to prove myself all over again, even if I’ve been in the industry for so many years.

He also said, ‘If I were to give you a cop’s role, you will try to do herogiri. So, I want to give you a father’s role. Where people just get surprised by a performance and people just see a performance and nothing else around it’. And then that happened, and after that, Lootere happened. I feel like Faraaz was my screen test to do Lootere.

I realised that in a show the character is the most important thing. On TV, it’s the hero, heroine and a negative character. It’s the same with films as well. But on OTT, you start loving that particular character. When Lootere was narrated to me, I knew that this character was going to come in the second half. Sometimes you have to trust the makers, the process and trust yourself. I’ve been confident enough to instinctively pick up whatever I felt like doing.

I was told that when there’s no way out for anyone in this show is when I enter. Because it’s a lull, nothing is happening, and that’s the time Ghulam Waris enters to turn the tables and make things happen. It’s a very complex character.

He’s a rogue agent who’s done things in the past and been punished. In a very real show, in a very real spaced-out show in Somalia, suddenly this rogue agent comes into the picture, and you feel that he’s up to something. Even if there is a gun pointed at him, he’s not scared or he won’t point a gun back. With his words, charm and wit, he’ll control the whole situation. It’s not an easy thing to play. We had a lot of discussions.

How did you prepare to play Ghulam Waris?

Aamir Ali: I remember meeting this cop long back. When they told me, I just remembered him. He used to be very chilled, no matter what. Maybe Ghulam Waris is scared inside but on the outside, he’s in control. So, I met the cop again a couple of times over tea, coffee and lunch. I just interacted with him and got inspired by the way he was.

What went into the making of the scene where you come face to face with Vivek Gomber (lead of the show) for the first time?

Aamir Ali: Those were the last days of the Cape Town shoot. It was a night shoot. An actor has to prepare what he has to do. It’s a game of action and reaction. If you think of it, Vikrant Gandhi (Gomber) is pointing a gun at Ghulam, they are meeting for the first time, and he has doubts about Gandhi, that Gandhi is involved in all these things, and he’s still not sure.

Sometimes things are not written the way it is seen on screen. That’s an actor’s job. I just thought if I threaten him, if I get loud with him or something, then even if he’s saying it, it won’t be convincing. I have to make him feel comfortable in front of me.

There was a shot which was cut in the final edit. When he’s pointing a gun at me, I’m saying, ‘Gandhiji, you have the same brand of gun as mine.’ Then I show him the gun. They haven’t kept that. And then the scene continues and we’re just chit-chatting, and suddenly, from wanting to shoot me, we are laughing with each other. Because Ghulam is a little cocky and confident.

Was it easy or difficult for you to make the switch from TV to OTT?

Aamir Ali: Firstly, it was a little difficult to make people understand because they have always seen me as a TV star. But I realised I had climbed that mountain of being a TV star. Now, this was a fresh journey for me. When I went to meet people, they were really nice. I’ve been in the industry for so many years, I know them. There were lunches and dinners and everything was there, but it wasn’t easy for them to place me in a character.

They always told me, ‘You look like a hero and ours is a very character-driven thing.’ So, they never saw me as, for example, Ghulam Waris. A lot of people had this thing that they didn’t want to work with TV actors. The OTT shows I was getting were very TV-plus. I didn’t want to do those typical ones. And I remember the first show that I did was Naxal Baari during Covid. I played a negative guy just to break that thing.

I’m here to act. I’m not here to do the same romantic shit or family drama thing. I was getting those offers. And then I made up my mind — if I were to do that only, then why would I stop doing TV?

You must have had dreams of acting in films when you decided to be an actor…

Aamir Ali: I would be lying if I said that I didn’t want to act in films. But with OTT coming in, I can very easily say that I’m very happy in this space. Actually, I was happy when I was doing television too when films didn’t happen for me. I shot for films that didn’t release. There was a phase when I was really low and didn’t know what to do. Then I did TV and everything changed from there. I understand whatever I am today is because of television, so I can’t look down upon it.

But now whatever I’m doing is for my creative satisfaction. It’s not easy to get the kind of films that I want to do. In television I had options to choose from, but I could not continue doing the same thing. I wanted to grow. Every actor is hungry to do something else, not just for money. So, now I am in a phase where I want to do quality work that I want to do for myself.

Waiting is an integral part of an actor’s life. How do you deal with it?

Aamir Ali: Oh god, yeah. Waiting has been the toughest. When I was doing television, I didn’t have to wait at all. I used to get over with one show and sign another. But I really waited when I made the switch from TV. This phase was very difficult. But I’m a sportsman by nature and I don’t give up. I’ve seen so many people just leaving and going and doing something else. But no, I just can’t give up. Even if I’m down and out, I’ll always come back with something.

What is your next release going to be?

Aamir Ali: I have shot for a show titled Doctor by Siddharth P. Malhotra. I think that will be my next release.