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INTERVIEW! Nawazuddin Siddiqui: Luxury Is A Mirage, I Like To Stay Away From The Glitz
Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who has proved his mettle with every film, every character, is going to be seen as villain in 'Heropanti 2'. Talking about his character, Laila, the actor says, "I always wanted to give a feminine touch to my character when I play a villain. I think this made the character very scary. This was on my mind from the theatre days and that wish of mine has finally come true in Heropanti 2."
Nawazuddin says, that he is in love with cinema and, that he always wanted to become an actor, not a star. Thanking the film industry, he said, "After leaving NSD, when I used to think about my future life, the kind of characters I want to do, I am getting them all here."
Heropanti 2 stars Tiger Shroff and Tara Sutaria in lead roles along with Nawazuddin Siddiqui. The film is scheduled to release in theatres on April 29. Before the release of the film, Nawazuddin Siddiqui had a special interaction with the media, where he spoke candidly about his script selection process, stardom, big budget pan-India films and much more.
Excerpts from the interview.
Q. Congratulations on the new bungalow. How special does it feel to have your own bungalow in Mumbai?
A. (Smiles) To be honest, I am not the person who thinks much about house or bungalow. Somebody showed me that place and I thought it was good, let's make it. When I shifted there, I had the bigger room earlier, but I could not sleep there. Then I got my bed shifted to the smallest room in the bungalow. There is only one bed and two chairs in that room. Now, I sleep there.
Q. Do you miss your old normal life after becoming an actor?
A. Today, if I go out like this alone, travel in auto or train, then at that time I feel normal. I feel like I can breathe. That's what my world looks like to me. I like to stay away from the glitz. Luxury is a mirage and nothing more. I really wanted to start something special as a hobby, or to wear expensive clothes and shoes, but that could not happen.
Q. Were you out of Mumbai during the lockdown days?
A. Yes, I had seen a place in Dehradun. There was a resort on a hill. Earlier, I stayed there alone for three to four months. Then I called my mother, then stayed with her for the rest of the time. And watched many movies.
Q. You told in an interview that in the last 3 months you received 200 scripts, out of which you chose 5. What are the things you keep in mind while choosing a script or character?
A. My criteria of choosing a film is to see, how character driven the story is. I see my character and the world around him. The story can be anything.
When I went to New York for the Emmys, there were four other actors nominated from all over the world, one of them was David Tennant, who was also the winner. I saw his performance. The story of that series was that a murder happens in a railway yard, when the police come, they go to a nearby house to inquire. A man lives in that house. Police asks him that there is a murder here, do you know anything about it! And he says, only one, I did 16 murders. Then in all the remaining 3 episodes, he is just sitting in the police station and the police is interrogating him. So the story is nothing special here, in the whole series, only he is telling how he did it, but with his gesture, he has kept the whole story interesting. I like this type of characters.
Nowadays, crores of rupees are being spent here to show the film as lavish as they could, and people are even watching it, going crazy. My thinking is quite the opposite. I believe that the story may not be anything, but make the actor stand with the belief that he will hold it. Weird things are being shown these days, fly the ship, submerge the plane.. I also do films like this occasionally, but I don't believe in it. I want to do a character-driven story, also because it gives an opportunity to read a person's mind, to know someone's thinking.
Q. You are also doing a Kangana Ranaut production film. How was the experience?
A. Kangana is an amazing producer. She had created such a good atmosphere on the sets that all the actors were working with great interest. I am sure that thing will definitely reflect in the film as well.
Q. In an interview recently, Akshay Kumar had said that '70 per cent luck works in the film industry and 30 per cent hard work', how much do you agree with this?
A. I do not believe this. I believe in 100 per cent hard work. I am not saying that he is wrong, but according to my experience, whatever happened in my life was not by any miracle or luck. The harder I worked, the more I got.
Q. You have done some films even without taking any fees. How important is money in life today?
A. Since the very beginning I had thought in mind that main paise ko apna gulaam banaunga, uska gulaam nahi banunga. Make yourself so capable that money becomes your slave. I love cinema, not money. I didn't charge fees for Manto, if I get another film like this, I will do that too without fees.
Q. Do you ever feel insecure in the industry as an actor?
A. I don't, because I am getting the roles I want to do. Thanks to the film industry for this. After leaving NSD, the way I thought about the life ahead- ..what kind of roles I will do, I am getting a chance to do all that. I am getting films like Manto, Thackeray, No Land's Man, Serious Man and Heropanti too.
Q. Have you ever done any kind of 'Heropanti' in real life? If you can share any story.
A. (Laughs) I tried, but I was beaten up a lot. I must be the age of 17-18, when we were all playing cricket in the field. Some other boys also came there, but I was adamant that we will play, our team will play first. So the person in front first looked at me from top to bottom, then they beat me a lot. Since then I have never shown any kind of heroism.
