Ali Abbas Zafar comments on insider vs. outsider debate

There is no denying the fact that Ali Abbas Zafar is one of the most successful Hindi filmmakers of the last decade. He kick-started his directorial career with romcom Mere Brother Ki Dulhan (2011), which turned out to be an instant hit at the box-office.

Zafar followed it up with such blockbusters as Gunday (2014), Sultan (2016), and Tiger Zinda Hai. What is common amongst the aforementioned movies is that they were all produced under the banner of Yash Raj Films, the leading production house in Bollywood.

Talking to a publication, Ali Abbas Zafar commented on the raging insider vs. outsider debate and said that Yash Raj Films was completely run by outsiders. “I have worked with the best lot of the industry, thanks to Aditya Chopra who is instrumental in making me who I am today. I think it is a creative industry no matter where you come from. If you do not have that bone in you of originating something from nothing, whether you are a director, a writer, a cameraman. The famous joke in the industry is that it is run by people from North and Delhi,” the filmmaker, who last helmed Salman Khan’s Bharat (2019), said.

He went on to add, “This is a joke in YRF too because if you see all the directors, Kabir Khan, Vijay Krishna Acharya, Maneesh Sharma, Habib Faizal, we all have studied there. This whole insider and outsider thing means Yash Raj is fully run by outsiders. This is a joke, at least creatively.”

Zafar has turned to production with the Ishaan Khatter and Ananya Panday-starrer Khaali Peeli, which released today on ZEE Plex and ZEE5. The filmmaker is now looking forward to the premiere of his debut web-show tentatively titled Dilli. It is slated to premiere on Amazon Prime Video. He is also set to work on a superhero franchise for Netflix, starring Katrina Kaif.