Like father, like son: For Pakistani-Canadian actor Ali Kazmi, ‘Uncle Vanya’ runs in the family

It was an epiphanic moment for Ali Kazmi.

Sitting in the audience at a Karachi theatre in 2007, he watched in awe as his father, acclaimed Pakistani actor Rahat Kazmi, took to the stage. The play was an Urdu adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s “Uncle Vanya” and Rahat portrayed Astrov, the forward-thinking environmentalist and country doctor.

Seeing his father reveal the nuances of that role — “one of heart and soul but also despair,” as Kazmi describes Astrov — took his respect for his dad to a whole other level.

“I had never seen Chekhov in that light before,” he said in an interview.

Now, some 15 years later, Kazmi is preparing to step into his father’s shoes, playing Astrov in the upcoming Crow’s Theatre production of “Uncle Vanya.” For the television and film star, the role marks not just a momentous occasion for his family, but also the culmination of decades of hard work, and a winding personal and professional journey that crosses continents.

Kazmi, 40, was born in Pakistan and grew up with a family of actors. His mother is Sahira Kazmi, one of the first women directors in the country. His maternal grandfather is the legendary Indian actor Shyam.

When he was seven, Kazmi played a younger version of his father’s character in a TV series directed by his mother. It was while filming that show that Kazmi knew he wanted to pursue acting.

“I felt so at home when I was on that set,” said Kazmi, adding that living with a family of actors was like learning the craft by osmosis. “I found peace and beauty in the chaos.”

Throughout his teens, Kazmi established himself as a film and TV star in Pakistan. It was a “strange pressure” being compared to his parents, he admitted. “In my early 20s, people were comparing us and always wanting me to do something unbelievable.”

Yet, Kazmi wanted to be judged based on his own merits and artistic abilities. That was one of the reasons why he immigrated to Canada. The other big factor: love.

He was 12 when he met his future wife, Alizeh Khorasanee, on the dusty playground of his school in Karachi. She was the head girl. He was new to the school.

“I went up to her. And it was a dumb thing to say, but I said, ‘I hope we become friends,’” Kazmi recalled. “That was it. And then we did become really good friends.”

The pair remained friends throughout high school. When Khorasanee moved to Montreal to attend McGill University, they began to chat online and started a long-distance relationship. In 2001, he wanted to join Khorasanee in Canada, and applied to various schools in Montreal and Toronto.

Acceptances rolled in that summer. But then came Sept. 11.

“All my acceptances turned to rejections,” he said. “I was a single, Pakistani, Muslim man. That’s what kept me away from my dreams for six years and kept me away from the woman I loved.”

But the pair continued their long-distance relationship. He proposed to her when he was 24. A year later, in 2008, he finally arrived in Canada and restarted his career from the bottom.

Kazmi attended the Toronto Film School — “I was probably one of the older students there,” he said — and his first professional gig in the city was a Toronto Fringe Festival play.

But his career progression in Canada was all but linear. In his first few years, he picked up several odd jobs to support his family: “working in studios, mopping floors, printing scripts, getting people coffee,” he recalled.

When he was cast in shows, he often played the “big villains.”

“After all the diverse characters I played in my 20s in Pakistan, it hurt coming here and being seen just as a terrorist,” Kazmi said.

But his most embarrassing gig came working for an advertising company that hired real actors to conduct brand demonstrations at local malls.

One day, he was assigned to Square One Shopping Centre, in Mississauga, where there is a large South Asian population. Some customers recognized him instantly from his appearances on hit Pakistani TV series. More than 150 shoppers gathered around his booth, inquiring what he was doing in the mall, Kazmi recalled.

“They didn’t mean to be demeaning, but it was a gut punch” having to tell them the truth, he said.

Kazmi’s big break didn’t come until 2015, with the feature film “Beeba Boys,” which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival that year. That movie launched Kazmi to other TV and film opportunities in both North America and Pakistan. In 2020, he starred in the film “Funny Boy.”

“Uncle Vanya” marks Kazmi’s first role onstage in over a decade. But returning to the theatre feels like a homecoming of sorts for him. “The theatre is where you get to display your whole heart, your whole brain, your soul. You put it all out there,” he said.

When Kazmi received the phone call from director Chris Abraham announcing the casting, he was in tears.

“It was an out-of-body experience,” he said. “I feel like all the years of hard work in Pakistan and Canada have come to a point where I will fill the shoes of my father, a man that has taught me so much.”

He called his father in Pakistan immediately.

“I think (the casting choice) is one hell of a thing,” said Rahat in a phone interview. “I feel excited beyond words for Ali to play the same role I did, 15 years later.”

For Kazmi, the production feels like a closing of a circle. Reflecting on the journey that brought from that auditorium in Karachi to the rehearsal hall of Crow’s Theatre today, he said: “I would never replace that journey, no matter how tough it was. If you haven’t lived life and haven’t had experiences, you will not be able to tell any tales.”

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