Nawazuddin Siddiqui says India needs to churn out cinema with international appeal but running after global awards doesn’t make any sense. By Karan Bhardwaj
Nawazuddin Siddiqui might have become a poster boy of parallel cinema but he is apparently making his way into commercial space. With Kick, Aatma, Badlapur and forthcoming films like Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Farzi, the national award-winning actor is making waves with his new choices. But he doesn’t like being questioned about it. “Do you ask the same question to a hero who does similar movies for 35 yearsIJ Why are people asking meIJ I’ve survived in Mumbai for 10 years without money. I never cared about money. I am not going to compromise with my work, performance. I do what I want to do. I am working with filmmakers whose work have been extraordinary. Today I am in a position to choose my roles so I am making most of this time,” he says.
As an artiste, he has never bracketed himself. He rejected all scripts post Kick that could have typecast him. “I cannot be a villain for all the movies. Even in future projects, I’m doing contrasting roles. I have done Badlapur because my character is not of a typical Bollywood villain. He puts humour where you expect the least. In most of my scenes, there are less dialogues and more of essence of the character. I keep common man in mind while playing grey characters so humour comes out naturally,” he says. In a decade-long career, Siddiqui has seen Bollywood changing in all aspects.
The risky projects are being taken up by financers and many young actors are breaking the mould with their unique choices. “The line between commercial and non-mainstream cinema has been obliterated. Today, stars want to do performance-oriented roles. Character astistes are being roped in for mainstream cinema. There’s an emergence of midway cinema, much like Badlapur. It is appreciated by the masses as well as the critics. There is no formula here,” he says.
The 40-year-old actor struggled for years to make his presence felt in the tinsel town. With movies like Miss lovely, Monsoon Shootout, liar’s Dice and The lunchbox, he got recognition at international platforms. However, he says global awards like Oscars are not benchmark to gauge success of Indian cinema. “We are producing one or two movies every year which strike a chord among the audience overseas. But we need to churn out more movies with international appeal. Globally, our movies don’t perform well. The lunchbox broke that rule. But people keep cribbing about not getting the Oscar. It’s not a certificate for us. Oscars has its own demands and requirements. One has to catch hold of jurists to show them movies. If a movie is good, the world audience will like it,” he says.