Nawazuddin Siddiqui: “Sometimes I am right in my choices, sometimes I fail.”

Nawazuddin Siddiqui happens to be one of the best actors in the Bollywood film industry. Although he floored us with his performances in movies like ‘Badlapur’ and ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, Nawaz has had his share of flops. His last two films, ‘Munna Michael’ and ‘Babumoshai Bandookbaaz’ haven’t been well received by the audiences. His cameo in the short film ‘Carbon’, didn’t really help much either.

When asked about his career choices, Nawaz hardly seemed apologetic about them. The actor stated, “Hota hai. Ups and downs are part of every actor’s career. I chose what I instinctively thought to be right. Sometimes I am right in my choices, sometimes I fail.” Talking about his role in the Saadat Hasan Manto biopic directed by Nandita Das, he said, “I don’t think I’ve been so consumed by any other role in my life. Main Manto saab ke zehan mein ghus gaya hoon (I’ve entered Manto’s soul).”

He further added, “I want this film to be remembered the way Attenborough’s Gandhi and Shekhar Kapur’s Bandit Queen are remembered to this day. With my Manto, I want to attain the same level of excellence as Ben Kingsley in Gandhi and Seema Biswas in Bandit Queen. While watching these films, audiences forget the actor who is playing these parts. I want the same to happen when audiences watch Manto.”

Surprisingly, Nawaz has apparently made a short film on the famous author Saadat Hassan Manto with Nandita Das. “Yes, we shot that for a conclave. When Nandita was supposed to do a short film we thought, why not Manto? So we now have a glimpse into Manto’s life captured in that short film. Watching the short film, everyone has an inkling into what we intend to do in the feature film,” he concluded.

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