Ali Fazal

Ali Fazal
Fazal at the 59th Filmfare Awards, 2014
Born	(1986-10-15) 15 October 1986 (age 30) Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India
Occupation	Actor, model
Years active	2008–present
Height	1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	82 kg (181 lb; 12 st 13 lb)

Ali Fazal (pronounced [əliː fəˈzaːl]; born 15 October 1986) is an Indian actor. Born in Lucknow, he made his screen debut with a small role in the English language film The Other End of the Line (2008) before appearing in the American television miniseries Bollywood Hero (2009).

Fazal made his Bollywood debut with a special appearance in 3 Idiots (2009) and he next appeared in Always Kabhi Kabhi (2011). His first success came in Fukrey (2013) and was seen in a supporting roles in films; Baat Ban Gayi (2013), Bobby Jasoos (2014) and Sonali Cable (2014). He played the leading role in the horror Khamoshiyan (2015) followed by his first American film Furious 7 (2015). He also played an important role in Happy Bhag Jayegi, opposite Diana Penty in 2016.

Born in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, Fazal's family hails from Allahabad. He was brought up in a "middle-class family" from a village near the Ganges. His father worked in a firm in the Middle East. He grew up in his maternal grandparents' home—with his grandparents and his mother—since his parents were separated while he was a kid. The couple got divorced when Fazal was 18. He completed schooling from The Doon School in Dehra Dun. He used to play basketball during his school days, and hoped to represent India as a basketball player.

In 2004, he participated in school plays and engaged in debates, more for passing time than anything else, as he had fractured his hand and could not practice basketball. He was selected for the role of Trinculo in the role play of The Tempest by William Shakespeare, which resulted in him developing a passion for theatre. Fazal first took up engineering, convinced by his parents since he is the only child in the family. However, he persuaded his parents to change his stream to economics. He came to Mumbai and graduated in economics from St. Xavier's College.