Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who was in town for a brand launch, worries that few films go to festivals, win awards, get appreciated and then release to empty theatres. He shares his transition and inspiration, Van Gogh, with Ankita Jain
Every time you feel you have seen enough of Nawazuddin Siddiqui, he surprises you with his choice of role. Every time you feel that he will come a little more assured offscreen, he disappoints you in a good way. You can barely recognise him in a crowd. “I want to stay curious, I want to remain grounded. Satisfaction breeds contempt.” Nawazuddin believes his greatest strength is the honesty with which he plays each role. This is one of the reasons why each of his characters is memorable and believeable in films like Gangs of Wasseypur, The lunchbox, Talaash, Kahaani, Miss lovely, Badlapur and Bajrangi Bhaijaan.
He is happy that the Hindi film industry has undergone a change to accommodate a Nawazuddin next to a Shah Rukh or Salman, a progress from the time when dual casting of Amitabh Bachchan and Naseeruddin Shah was a near impossibility. He attributes it to a change in the treatment of arthouse films that has made commercial players interested in the work of artistes like him. “The boundaries are blurring because content-rich films are no longer boring and have been able to do decent business,” says Nawaz, who will be seen playing a cop in Raees, sporting a thick moustache and glasses, again a character that will be a counterfoil to the protagonist. He will also be seen doing some cool moves of the late pop sensation, Michael Jackson, in the film. “It is a dance number but my part is less as I am not from a dance background,” he laughs. “You will notice me dancing in one of my forthcoming films, Munna Michael, with Tiger Shroff,” he adds.
Stars are known to be insecure about sharing space with actors but Nawaz found Shah Rukh secure. “The more scenes we had together, the more I wanted to act with him. I secretly used to pray that a shot should go on and on. The best part about Shah Rukh is he respects an actor. He is the best co-star I’ve ever worked with. I credit all my good performances in the film to him.”
After a well-documented, decade-long struggle to find a foothold in the industry, Nawaz, who trained at Delhi’s National School of Drama (NSD) in the 90s, is now in an enviable position in his career: An in-demand actor who jumps from blockbusters to “Versova indies” with consummate ease and commands his own loyal, discerning fan-base. “Things changed when I got admission in the NSD. Till then acting and street plays were all about survival. At NSD, I didn’t have to worry about food. There everybody was equal. And even if someone carried elitist thoughts, after a few performances, their opinions gave way to admiration. That way art is a great leveller. If you are good, nobody can snatch your fame. The audience doesn’t ask which village or economic background you hail from,” says Nawaz.
“Had I not watched Ek Doctor Ki Maut on the big screen I would not have been an actor today. I still remember a dialogue from the film which instantly clicked with me. ‘Hum logo ko is duniya mein bheja gaya hai discover karne ke liye. Jab tak dimaag hai, tab tak cheeze discover hote rehne do.’ I watched it at Manzar Theatre in Pragati Maidan,” says Nawaz, adding that Manzar was the place which opened the window of world cinema for him.
Talk of Manzar takes him back to the seven years he spent in Delhi doing theatre. “Though I am no more connected to theatre and it has been around 12-15 years since I last watched any play, I remember the first play that I watched. It was Sakshi group’s Uljhan where Manoj Bajpai played the lead role. Soon I joined the group. Whenever I visit Delhi, I want to go back to NSD but due to time constraints, I have not been able to. I even loved the chole bhature of Nathu’s and it was Delhi where for the first time I randomly placed my hand over a girl’s hand in one of the parks near Mandi House. This incident is there in the film GOW too.”
Nawaz is aware his looks or personality do not fit the image of a quintessential Bollywood hero but he boasts of how easily he becomes one in a crowd. An asset that works commercially too. “There was a time when the hero used to be tall, fair and defined the concept of good-looking. With the evolution of cinema and the audience, that concept has somewhere disappeared. This is the reason why I got an opportunity to play my first central character role in Manjhi-The Mountain Man after going through a whole lot of smaller ones.”
He knows the industry constantly sees him in the persona of the common man but he doesn’t mind it. “The days of heroes and villains are over with the 70s and 80s. Now heroes are not infallible and villains are not pitch-dark. It is an interesting space for actors to be in and even stars are realising it. There is no ‘my scene your scene’ approach anymore because they are conscious that the audience realises the difference between performance and gimmickry.”
So, can we expect to watch him in lead roles in formula films as wellIJ “I am very open to it as nowadays formula films have a meaningful story too. Meanwhile, I am playing the lead role in Nandita Das’s Manto. I want to play all shades of common man.” But what if he were asked to choose from past classics of Indian cinemaIJ With a spark in his eyes, he says his dream role is that of Salim in Mughal-e-Azam.
His journey has been arduous but he kept going single-mindedly. “Unfortunately, for actors like me the gears change slowly. You know that I started from parts of a few seconds. So in that sense I have covered a lot of ground in the last decade. During my struggle, I was often told that you act well but you are not hero material. I would ask what does it entail and I would get blank faces. It took a long time to get accepted. I had become immune to rejection. When you face rejection on a daily basis, even your friends stop listening to your opinion and worries. Now, when people ask me what I think, I chuckle.”
He struggled for over 15 years. Did he never think of giving up and going back to his villageIJ “There were situations where I felt, I was wasting my time because things were just not working out. But I couldn’t even go back. What would I do thereIJ I have spent all my life acting and I don’t know any other work. Also, I was afraid my friends would tease me. Arrey hero banne gaya tha, wapas laut aaya (He had gone to become an actor and has returned with nothing). When I was offeredKahaani, I was going through the phase of frustration because nothing was working for me. And through the role of the short-tempered Mr Khan, I got an opportunity to vent all my frustration.”
The ability to survive on the bare minimum has given Nawaz the confidence that he won’t fall into the trap of the glamour industry. He understands the perils of being reduced to a support staff in extravaganzas, who are sometimes applauded at popular award functions. “During the struggle, I saw many big names coming down from the top for poor sense of judgment in picking films. I am not going to repeat myself to make money. In fact, I had told myself that Kahaani is going to be my last film in the character artiste space. But apart from being offered substantial parts, the idea to be seen in films like Kick is that it helps in generating interest in my content-driven, small films. Today it is easier to make a good film but taking it to the audience requires plenty of money. Miss lovely suffered because of this and I still feel bad about it because apart from a good film, it was my first performance in a lead role,” says Nawaz.
Straddling two different worlds within the realm of Indian cinema has made him more pragmatic. “My fear is that few films go to festivals, win awards, get appreciated and then release to empty theatres here,” he says. Talking about Raman Raghav, which mentally exhausted him, he adds, “It didn’t work well in the theatres but it gave me an Asia-Pacific award in special mention. This award is not known much in India but is considered Asia’s Oscar. Though it was nowhere in news here, I am happy the panel recognised and appreciated me. One of the nominees was the superstar of Korea. Raman Raghav was a small budget film but what it gave me is priceless.”
He says he gets affected by his characters, both physically and psychologically. “That’s why a method actor cannot have too many roles in his pocket at one time. And it is a two-way process. When you imbibe something from the character, the character also takes away something from your life. But that’s the fun of being in this profession.”
How much do his roles affect himIJ “Except Raman Raghav, who was a very complex, twisted personality, nothing affected me much. He was intense and it disturbed me for quite some time,” he says.
We mistakenly assume he likes to travel abroad to get away from it all. “No, I usually go to my village, Budhana (in Uttar Pradesh), or some remote part of India,” he says. Khuri, near Jaisalmer, Rajasthan, is a place he holds fond memories of. “Here, in the cities, people know who I am, toh ek tareeka hota hai baat karne ka (so they speak to me a certain way). There, no one knows me. I can unwind and just let my thought process go on. Wahaan aapke talent ka mazaa hai (that is where your talent comes into play). How many people you can talk to, just at a tea-stall, and befriend, and get them to share their life-stories. And they have such rich, deep philosophy in everything they say.”
Coming from a small village in western Uttar Pradesh, one is tempted to ask him who were his role models, when he was growing up. “I like perfectionists. He could be a mechanic in a garage or a cobbler. There was teacher of mine who never got late even by five minutes. For ten years, I followed him. When I got a sense of art and aesthetics, Vincent Van Gogh became one of my inspirations.” Asked what is he giving back to his village, Nawaz says, “I always wanted to contribute to my village in one way or the other but due to ongoing false allegations (there’s a family dispute), I am not able to do so. But I am glad my brother is working for the village.” Nawaz comes across as a very friendly person who isn’t touched by his success and fan following. “I was so down in the dumps when I was struggling that I felt concepts like ‘happiness,’ ‘favourable’ ‘luck’ weren’t meant for me. So I made an understanding with myself and my fate. I don’t let anything get into my head; not even my trolls. I respect honest criticism from people who are knowledgeable. Otherwise my reaction to anything negative or positive is silence,” smiles Nawaz. He is one of those actors who prefers handling his own interviews and dates. “I don’t know how PR is done. I find this self-promotion that actors do silly. Khud ki tareef khud hi karte hai, zara ajeeb lagta hai.”