Interview with Aamir Dalvi (Zafar) of Sony SAB's Aladdin Naam Toh Suna Hoga

Q. Did you watch or read Aladdin while you were a kid? Who was your favorite character?

Aamir: All of us must have read or watched Aladdin as kids, since it is one of the finest Arabian tales. My favorite character was Genie.

Q. What made you take on the negative role of Wazir?

Aamir: Negative characters always have a niche, extra edge to them; as a performer that is what made me take up this role. I have played negative characters before but Zafar is a negative character from the fairy tale. It is a different set up all together and that is what caught my attention.

Q. Tell us about your look on the show?

Aamir: My look is very different and elaborate. It is grand and the show is based on the Arabic era. The costumes are really heavy and the make up too. Zafar has to look evil so there is a lot of detailing that goes into my look for the show. It is supported with a wig, to make my hair look longer. It takes approximately an hour to get into my look, which is not an easy task. However, I am sure my efforts will pay off and that is something I am looking forward to.

Q. Is there anything in particular you had to prepare for the role of Wazir?

Aamir: One thing that we all need to be very particular about is the language, because we keep doing TV and have been doing it since a very long time. There are many words in the script that we use in our day-to-day language. We need to be particular about it because there is a lot of Urdu. Usually, for country, we would have to say ‘Mulk’, whereas in our Hindi Operas, we have been saying ‘Desh’ since so many years. Keeping all those in mind, there is a little extra that goes into preparing for the scenes.

Q. What can the audiences expect from the show?

Aamir: The audience can expect great entertainment from the show since we have a superb cast. Aladdin is being played by Siddharth Nigam, Avneet Kaur as Princess Yasmine, we have Smita Bansal playing Ammi and the boy who is playing Genie is an excellent performer. With a brilliant cast like this, Aladdin is going to be an out and out fun show for all viewers.