Sajal Ali didn't begin her journey in an acting school

Actor talks career variety, getting inspired

In a meet and greet held in New York, Sajal Ali recalled her time filming Jemima Goldsmith's What's Love Got to Do with It? and shared that there's no formal background to her acting career.

"I have never taken on projects for the sake of winning awards. But yes, I am driven by people's appreciation for me, and I do like performing for them. I'm grateful to Allah for being here because through this work I'm able to tell many fascinating stories. Even when a local artist is chosen to represent Pakistan on an international level, that's a feat worth commending," she began.

Continuing her enthusiastic response, Sajal added, "I'm also proud of working on What's Love Got to Do with It? That was a great experience. It always feels good to work with and observe so many brilliant actors like Lily James, Emma Thompson, and Shabana Azmi. And there's also much to learn when you're in that environment," she said.

Sajal, who played Maymouna in the 2022 romantic comedy, maintained that there's no secret ingredient to what she does. "I haven't learned acting from anywhere. There's no method to what I do.

"But I do try to spend a lot of time with senior actors, be it in Pakistan or abroad, aside from work. I try to learn as much as I can from them, and, of course, make Pakistan proud," she said.

Remarking on her journey to stardom, Sajal expressed gratitude to have received opportunities and of a lot of support from her family, close friends, and manager. "The journey is never just your own; it's always a team effort. So, I'm blessed with great people in that regard," she said.

Despite her undeniable accomplishments, the 31-year-old actor still doubts her skills time and again. "I get confused doing every new project as if it's my first," she said. "But aside from talent, I do feel that getting opportunities is also important. There might be many talented people in Pakistan who go unnoticed. So, I consider myself lucky in that regard."

Sajal credits her success to the early-career projects that shaped her skills as an actor and helped her explore her strengths. "If I'd felt I was bad at it, I would've called it quits back then. But after those experiences, I started to believe that I might have a little something in me, you know?" she said.

A desire to inspire

The Aangan actor believes that there is a well of inspiration in her line of work and that an actor changes and grows with time. "There have been a lot of people who have inspired me. But I do work towards becoming that person for myself and inspire others, too," she said.

Owing to her experience, Sajal added that actors don't always resonate with the characters that they play since they're playing different personalities each time. "If I'm always looking for similarities between me and my characters, then that would be boring, even for the audience. Then they won't see the characters; they'll see Sajal," she explained.

The Yaqeen Ka Safar star further explained her quest to seek challenging roles that help her explore something new as an artist. "I rarely ever regret turning down certain projects," she said.