Nawazuddin Siddiqui is an actor known for his impeccable style and personality. He is also one of the lauded performers in Bollywood and brings a level of humanity to each part he plays. Siddiqui's story is of unlikely success and fighting against great odds to make it. Today his fan following is on a global scale and is one of the busiest actors in the industry.
Every actor has struggled to make it to the industry, but Nawaz's story particularly stands for the pure harshness. He came from an extremely poor background and had to do many odd jobs like being a guard to survive in Mumbai. At times he had nothing to eat and no money to travel for auditions, so he used to walk for kilometres. For years his main source of nutrition was cheap glucose biscuits.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui recalls feeling at many times that he was going to die at many points of his life. He started roaming around the city to get a good last look at the world before he left. Many of his seniors in NSD school had passed away or given up on the dream. Siddiqui, however, known for his extremely stubborn attitude, kept going.
Many actors in Bollywood have done movies, and tv shows that they feel embarrassed by. He has had to act in C grade movies in the past to earn a living. Fun fact- Siddiqui used to watch C grade movies in the theatre on the outskirts of their town.
Later in life, when he came to the big city, Nawaz discovered foreign cinema and became obsessed with it. Nowadays, he regularly takes part in critical darlings that are considered the best Bollywood has to offer.
The biggest source of rejection and constant criticism of Nawaz was based solely on looks. It certainly led to some complexes in his personality that he's had to deal with over the years.
When he was shooting for Gangs of Wasseypur, one of the men in the crowd said, who is the hero?
The man replied, it's this guy (Nawaz); he replied Thoo picture chalegi Nahi.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui has even recently come out to say that the problem of racism is a bigger issue than nepotism. While in India, he's gotten negative remarks in foreign film festivals; things are quite different. Anurag Kashyap revealed in an interview that Siddiqui was called beautiful and got the ladies' attention.
Nawaz has often mentioned that the town he belongs to has had a lot of issues with guns and violence. The inspiration for many of his characters come from the people he's grown up with in real life. Siddique has seen the underbelly of society, and he's tried to showcase it in his movies.
His role of Raman Raghav was widely praised for its bone-chilling performance and realism. This was the role where he went full method and tried his best to give it all. The film was a critical darling and has now gotten a cult following on the internet. On the day of the release, he had gotten a lot of hate messages for the movie, and it failed commercially.
This was something that shocked Nawaz and made him ponder as to why such hate. When the movie Joker was released and made a billion dollars, he felt particularly underappreciated. He believes it showcases a certain disparity in praising Hollywood movies but looking down upon Indian movies.
While the world might sing praises for Nawazuddin Siddiqui, at home, things are different. His attempts to go deeper into the craft and internalize performance doesn't faze the family. They are the typical Bollywood fans who love watching typical masala movies and the hero look. His mother likes the role where Nawaz is all buttoned up and doesn't like his child in dirty clothes.
Kabhi Kabhi lagta hai ki Nawaz Bhai cinema ke Bhagwan hai. You can put him in any role, and Siddiqui will do something extraordinary with it. He wants to bring a sense of realism and quality to Indian cinema. We believe Nawaz is stubborn enough that he might achieve his goals.
