Mumbai: Actor Ali Fazal is a sports enthusiast and has been associated with the game of Basketball and Football since his early days in school and college. There was a time when Ali hoped to represent India as a basketball player but destiny brought him to tinsel town and the rest is history. Other than playing basketball Ali is also a passionate about football too. He loves watching the game and plays whenever he has free time on his hands. A few years ago Ali mentored a team of children from Shillong as their brand ambassador. While shooting for one of his films in Goa, Ali initiated the idea to fly the boys from Shillong football club to Goa and mentor them side by side while shooting for his film. Taking the legacy forward Ali is now all set to mentor young football enthusiasts from Lucknow while shooting for his current film Prasthaanam.
Lucknow being his hometown holds an important place in his heart and Ali considers it his responsibility to give back in some way or another. What better way than to mentor some local young football players who work really hard to get the basic facilities to play the game they love. Ali like a good Samaritan took the onus to represent the young lads as their mentor while shooting for his film in Lucknow. Even after the completion of his film, Ali will continue mentoring these talented kids till the time their potential is recognised by professional football clubs of India.
Speaking of it, Ali said, “When I worked with the amazing team at Shillong and seeing the kids and their hard work, it really reminded me of my training not too long ago when I was an athlete during my college days. Being a fan of football, I have always had immense interest in the sport on and off the field. And when I met these young, very enthusiastic kids in Lucknow while I was shooting there I was really impressed with their talent on field and I feel with the right mentoring they can do a lot in the sport. They don’t even have proper fields at this point. I am also in hopes to get govt sanctions for multipurpose play fields in the city. So the idea is to, apart from encouraging them, also mentor them by providing them the right guidance and technical support which can help them brush their skills to take up the sport professionally if they wish to in their future. I will be tying up with various sponsors’ as well so push this initiative as game equipment needs to be bought.”
Prassthanam is the official remake of Telugu film with the same name directed by Deva Katta under Sanjay Dutt production. The cast includes Sanjay Dutt, Manisha Koirala, Ali Fazal, Amyra Dastur, and Satyajeet Dubey amongst others. Ali will be seen playing son to Sanjay Dutt in the film.
