There was a time when Nawazuddin Siddiqui spent a full 14 years of exile to get a chance in the field of acting, but now his films are constantly fair. These days, Nawaz, who came into the limelight with ‘Heropanti 2’, will soon be seen in more than one film like ‘Jogira Sararara’, ‘Tiku Weds Sheru’ and ‘Noorani Chehra’.
In a special conversation with Peddler Media, Nawazuddin also talked about his struggle with his film, his new luxurious house, the hangover of his characters along with the fears and insecurities hidden inside him. He says that as an actor, he never fears that the craft in him will wear off after a period of time. Nawaz says that he never locked himself in a glasshouse.
Your look in Heropanti 2 is being talked about a lot? How did this look come?
My character’s name is Laila. When its look was decided, Ahmed Bhai (Director Ahmed Khan) and Sajid Bhai (Sajid Nadiadwala) also had their own ideas about the character. This character is a magician, who shows a lot of magic. We have also added some feminine touches to it, so it has finally become an interesting character. I had a lot of fun doing it. It moves with a wave. The way he sits is a bit feminine. He is such a magician who performs magic on stage, but at the same time performs his image with his swag and style.
In the last few years, you have received love from the audience as well as the critics and are you satisfied with the kind of characters you have got?
I am completely satisfied. On one hand, someone is giving me ‘Thackeray’ and on the other hand, ‘Manto’ is given. There is ‘Heropanti 2’ on one side and ‘No Man’s Land on the other. I am doing festival films as well as commercial movies. As an actor, I am doing all kinds of roles. I consider myself lucky enough to have a character of every colour, at a time when people are stuck playing only hero or villain roles. I agree that the industry owes a lot to me. Not only the industry, the audience also likes to see me in any form.
Have you had any role hangovers after playing many diverse characters? What do you do then?
Raman Raghav and Manto had a deep hangover on me. I was mentally disturbed while doing these characters, because when you take something from a character, it also takes away a lot from your life and if you live that character honestly and seriously, then A lot goes out of life. In the character of killer Raman Raghav, I was shaken to the core in the child-killing scene. When you do a character like this, you have to believe in it, so the line between good and evil is, Sometimes it gets blurry. There is a lot of trauma and then you have to come out of that character. In such a situation, I am sitting among my old friends, I go to my village. In between, I felt that too much was being spent, so I decided to do romantic films to save myself. Now like ‘Jogira Sararara’ is a film in which I have lived freely as an actor because the writing was also allowing me to do that. I have beautiful dialogues as well as beautiful timing in that film. Comedy, emotion, and romance is everything in my character, so I made myself feel very light by living this character. Similarly, ‘Tiku Weds Sheru’ is a complete comedy film, while ‘Noorani Chehra’ is an emotional film.
Afraid as an actor that you might miss out or get completely spent?
That is not afraid of me, because I live among people and I have never locked myself in glass houses. I am from theatre, so a thousand characters are from my village, in my memories. Whenever I need to, I will take my memories of the past and a character will be created. Look, I have done many serious roles, but I am not a serious person. I am a very funny person, easy to handle. I do not walk with a load on my head.
Intense and dark content started with your web series ‘Sacred Games’ on OTT, but now most of the web series see abuse, violence and nudity?
You are absolutely right. After Sacred Games, people started making this kind of content indiscriminately. Violence or profanity is part of the character in Sacred Games, but now there’s abuse for sensation. Now drugs, mafia, and gangster series are being made on this. There is a lot of sheep movement in Bollywood and now there is a lot of sheep movement in the series too. I think the quality of TV serials is better than the OTT web series.
You recently built a new house and your house has been discussed a lot?
To be honest, I never had the concept of a householder that I would build a house. Actually, I am not the man of the house. But now it has been made, it has been done, but I do not have much fascination about the house. But it is definitely that whether it is my work or my home, my touch definitely remains in it. Your character, costume, props, and house all have your touch on them. You must be seen in the things related to you, I am seen in my house.
Your struggle stories are a role model for the youths coming into the field of acting, what do you remember about those days?
Today, if I talk more about my craft than my struggle, then I would love it better because even during my struggling days, I used to think about acting day-night. I was still in this tune how to make my acting excellent? Struggle happens in everyone’s life. But in those struggling days when you were empty, what did you achieve, which is working today. That’s the most important thing. There was a time when we did not even know whether we would get food in the evening or not, but at that time only acting was in my heart and mind, so that is the most beautiful thing.
