Nawazuddin Siddiqui was seen in a minuscule role in Ram Gopal Varma’s film Jungle and then in Sarfarosh. The actor slowly graduated to better-etched characters with films like Talaash and Kahaani. Today, he is one of the most sought-after actors in Bollywood after Gangs of Wasseypur.
During his film promotion for Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, Nawaz admitted that he may look at ease in all roles before the camera, but Babumoshai Bandookbaaz made him nervous because of the steamy sequences in the film. “It was my first time and hence I was indeed nervous. I had not done such scenes before, but it was good, even though I was nervous. One needs to focus only on the scene and not anywhere else,” says the actor.
He went on to explain the difference between gangster Faisal of Gangs of Wasseypur and the titular character in Babumoshai Bandookbaaz.
“Faisal was very different. He was emotional with a set of ethics. He had a wife who he loved, and he often spoke about her. But then this guy is a scurrilous character. He is not happy with one wife,” smiles Nawaz.
Nawaz hates being stereotyped, but at the same time has a problem with how the media also likes to stereotype actors like him. “Watch Munna Michael, and you will see that the role is very different and not just that of a gangster. When a hero does 35 films with the same character, no one questions him. But when I do two similar themed movies, I am being asked about my choices. I have also done films like Maanjhi, Mom, Manto, Lunchbox and Freaky Ali. I have played a variety of characters,” he says.
But most of Nawaz’s characters seem to have shades of grey. The actor mentions that the days of the fully white heroes and the entirely black villains are over. Everyone from the hero to the villain all have underlying tones to their character. “I hate flat characters like an out and out hero or an out and out villain. Stars are also playing roles today with grey shades, and that is what is close to reality. There exists good and bad, in and around us. Cinema has to reflect that reality,” he says.
— Sanskriti Media
