Even when his elder brother Ajmal Ameer ventured into acting, he had not dreamt of coming in front of the camera. It was when he identified his passion towards filmmaking, Askar Ali decided to bid adieu to his high-paid job in a private bank. Askar had started the pre-production works of his film, when all of a sudden he got a call from Johnson Devassy to act in Out of Range.
It was around a year back that Askar received the offer to act. “In fact, I was then working on my own script after resigning from the bank. It was then that John sir called me after watching my photos on Facebook. Though I was not planning to follow the path of my brother as an actor, my dream had always been to come into cinema. As it was the very first call from this industry, I said yes,” says Askar.
Though the director was convinced with Askar’s looks, he was finalised as one of the four heroes in the film after conducting an audition. About his role — as Aashiq — and the film, Askar says “It is an interesting subject which revolves around the life of four bachelors. Though we have watched many films, which depict the life of bachelor friends, it is the core subject which makes Out of Range different,” he says.
Even before the release of his debut film, Askar has completed his second assignment as actor — Theeram. “This one also came at an unexpected moment. It was to talk about my own directorial venture that I went to meet producer Sheik Afzal. At that time, he was in the pre-production meeting of his next film after You Too Brutus. After discussing my script, he said he wanted me to act in his film which has Pranav Ratheesh, son of late actor Ratheesh sir, in one of the lead roles.” He adds that he cannot reveal the subject of the film. So what about his directorial venture? “I am working on the script. Once it gets locked, I will approach a certain actor for the lead role.”
