Ali Junejo Age, Girlfriend, Wife, Family, Biography & More

Bio/Wiki
Profession(s)	• Actor • Writer • Director
Famous role	Haider in the Pakistani film Joyland (2022)
Physical Stats & More
Height (approx.)	in centimeters- 165 cm in meters- 1.65 m in feet & inches- 5’ 5”
Eye Colour	Black
Hair Colour	Black
Career
Debut	Film (Lollywood): Joyland (2022)
Awards	In 2022, Ali Junejo won the Special Mention Award at the 46th So Paolo International Film Festival.
Personal Life
Age	Not Known
Nationality	Pakistani
Hometown	Karachi, Pakistan
Relationships & More
Marital Status	Not Known
Affairs/Girlfriends	Not Known
Family
Wife/Spouse	Not Known

Ali Junejo with the cast of the Pakistani film Joyland; picture from the 75th annual Cannes Film Festival (2022)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ali Junejo

• Ali Junejo is a Pakistani actor and playwright. In 2022, he worked in the critically acclaimed Pakistani film Joyland in which he played the lead role of Haider.

• While growing up in Karachi, he wanted to become a writer.

• In the early 2000s, he started his career as a theatre artist. Initially, he worked in an Urdu-language murder and mystery theatre play after which he decided to pursue his career in acting. In an interview, he talked about this and said,
  

  I’ve been doing theater for a very long time. I auditioned for a play; it was like a murder mystery thing and then I got hooked to it. I spent some time out of the country and then came back in 2012, and then I just continued doing theater. I was writing, directing and performing and I’ve worked with NAPA a lot.” ^[1]Something Haute

• Ali has worked in various theatrical productions like Samuel Beckett’s famous play Waiting for Godot (2013), Sunil Shankar’s play Dead End (2019), Equus (2017), and Both Sit in Silence for a While (2022). In an interview, he talked about his theatre production Waiting for Godot and said,
  

  The sort of stuff that I was working on earlier included a huge amount of personal effort because I, along with my co-director, used to do everything. This time around however, I am at the complete disposal of none other than Zia sahab himself. The sort of training and experience Zia sahab has as a director only makes me more confident [in the faithful adaptation of this play]. He knows a lot about the background [of the play] and has a very clear picture in mind, but at the same time gives us room to bring in our own flavour. As long as you know what you’re doing, he is not stifling.”

  

  Ali Junejo and Rasti Farooq in a scene from the play Both Sit in Silence for a While (2022)

• Ali is also a playwright and has written and acted in various theatrical productions like The Man on a Black Horse (2013), and Both Sit in Silence for a while (2022).
  

  Ali Junejo as Rumi (left) and Rouvan Mahmud as Sal (right) in a still from the theatre play The Man on a Black Horse (2013)

• In 2022, he made his film debut with the Lollywood film Joyland, starring Alina Khan and Rasti Farooq. In an interview, Ali talked about the role he played in the Pakistani film Joyland, what he enjoyed in playing the role of Haider, and how he bagged the role. He said,
  

  It was fairly difficult. I auditioned for it and I was the last audition so maybe that’s why I got it because they ran out of people (laughs). I had read the script so my curiosity was driving me mad; when I spoke to Saim, I came to this realization that he will be open to discussion and debate about the intentions of the character. The challenge was that there is nothing black and white in Haider’s life so, I realized that this will require a lot of work and I loved it.”

  

  Ali Junejo as Haider in a still from the Pakistani film Joyland (2022)

• In 2022, the Pakistani film Joyland starring Ali Junejo, became the first Lollywood film to be screened at Cannes Festival. The film received a standing ovation when it premiered at the 75th annual Cannes Film Festival and went on to win the Cannes Queer Palm prize for best LGBT, “queer” or feminist-themed movie.
  

  From left, Joyland’s director Saim Sadiq, producer Apoorva Charan, Rasti Farooq, Sarwat Gilani, Ali Junejo, Alina Khan, Sania Saeed, and Sana Jafri; picture from 75th annual Cannes Film Festival

  

  Lollywood film Joyland (2022) received a standing ovation from the audience at the 75th Cannes Film Festival (2022)

• Saim Sadiq’s critically acclaimed Pakistani film Joyland (2022) was initially banned to be released in Pakistani theatres citing that the Lollywood film had ‘highly objectionable material,’ the film was not allowed to be screened in any theatre in the country. On 11 November 2022, Pakistan’s Ministry of Information and Broadcasting issued a notification that read,
  

  Written complaints were received that the film contains highly objectionable material which does not conform with the social values and moral standards of our society and is repugnant to the norms of ‘decency and morality as laid down in Section 9 of the Motion Picture Ordinance, 1979.”

  However, on 16 November 2022, after it was reviewed for the second time by the committee formed by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, the ban was lifted. In a tweet, Salman Sufi, head of Prime Minister Sharif’s Strategic Reforms unit, announced that the film will be released in Pakistan theatres with some minor cuts. ^[2]The Times of India

• According to Saim Sadiq, director of the Pakistani film Joyland, Ali Junejo doesn’t use any social media platform. In an interview, Saim Sadiq talked about Ali Junejo and said that Ali doesn’t appear anywhere but in theatres. He said,
  

  I had almost given up and we would not have made the film if we hadn’t found the right lead. But then somebody recommended that I see this theatre actor who had no Instagram, no social media presence. He didn’t exist except on stage.” ^[3]Rediff