
Post the success of Gangs of Wasseypur, Nawazuddin Siddiqui became a household name for his realistic and relatable acting skills. Later he went on work with top actors and filmmakers of Bollywood and he’ll be seen playing the main antagonist in Tiger Shroff starrer Heropanti 2. Although he currently ranks among the top actors, time and again he has spoken about his hardships and most recently he revealed the harshest comment he received during his struggling days.
Before making it big in the entertainment world, Nawaz did cameos in some prominent films like Munna Bhai MBBS, Shool, Jungle, Black Friday and others. After getting recognition for Anurag Kashyap’s film, the actor went to work in big-budget films and the rest is history.
In a recent chat with News18, Nawazuddin Siddiqui recalls his struggling days and reveals how people told him that he won’t ever become an actor, “Wherever I used to go, they used to tell me that I do not look like an actor and that’s why I should find some other work. ‘Actors are not like this, you are not an actor. Why are you wasting time’, I had to hear this, from office to office.”
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“But finally, it took me 9-10 years. There came directors who were making realistic movies. We emerged with them. Those films never used to work here, but they used to get appreciation at (film) festivals. That’s when commercial filmmakers thought of us as authentic and decided to cast us. They made films with us. That’s how I got acceptance,” added Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
The Sacred Games star further recalled getting rejected from a TV show as makers thought they had to use some extra lights on him, “‘Aap log dikhte nhi ho (like actors)’, ‘You are unconventional’ What else can be harsh than this? When I used to ask for work in TV shows, they used to tell me ‘We cannot cast you because it will take more time. We’ll have to put on extra lights, whereas we have to send one episode every day. If we cast you, it will take 1.5 days, we’ll face losses. Better you find something else’.”
“Then I decided to find work in movies. I was getting hardly a scene there or maybe a 40-seconds scene or one minute or two. For 5-6 years it went like this. Then I started getting two scenes. It went on like this for another five years.”
Nawazuddin Siddiqui also shares that he doesn’t feel he’s an unconventional actor, “I think if we take today’s Bollywood into consideration, that’s a fact. But frankly speaking, I don’t believe in this. Ninety per cent of people in India are like me, they are of my height and colour. If we look from India’s point of view, I am conventional. It’s just a mindset that some people are unconventional and others are unconventional. I am conventional; people in India are like me.”
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