The past 10 months have been creatively fulfilling for Arif Zakaria. First seen as Muhammad Ali Jinnah in the historical drama, Freedom at Midnight (2024), the actor followed it up with Neeraj Pandey’s Special Ops 2 in which he played a scientist. But Zakaria doesn’t believe in looking back; instead, he is looking forward to his next, Faraar, a thriller in which he shares screen with Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
The actor shares that they shot for Kushagra Sharma’s directorial venture in Thailand earlier this year. “The thriller, set in Bangkok, revolves around the wrongful arrest of a woman. I play an arrogant yet brilliant lawyer who tries to help the woman in her defence. It was the first time I worked with Nawaz and it was a good, professional experience,” he says.
Currently, Zakaria is filming Mandalam, a Prime Video series that also stars Saqib Saleem and Varun Badola. He describes the series as a classic good-versus-evil story. “I play the antagonist, a cunning character running several illicit businesses. How he evades the law with the assistance of his young mentees, who eventually turn against him, forms the story. It shows small-town politics, social hierarchies, and how law enforcers are hand-in-glove with the powerful.”
