Nawazuddin Siddiqui
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Early life
India Today, August 31, 2015
Suhani Singh
Nawazuddin Siddiqui: Bollywood's hero next door
Siddiqui may not fit the popular perception of a Bollywood hero who goes to the gym to build his biceps and abs, but his fans are proof that audiences are no longer being wooed by looks alone.
Born in Budhana, Muzaffarnagar, to a farmer, Siddiqui is the eldest of nine siblings-seven brothers and two sisters. There the only cinema he was exposed to was the C-grade semi-porn variety, the sort that his character Sonu Daggal makes in Miss Lovely. "He grew up never knowing what he wanted to do with his life," says his filmmaker-brother Shamas, who has been by his side in Mumbai for 11 years now and dons the role of manager. It explains Siddiqui's early life as a wanderer in search of his destiny. After finishing his matriculation, he left for Haridwar, where he graduated in science from the Gurukul Kangri University. Having seen a play and moved by the audience-viewer dynamic, he settled on acting. "Yeh pure cheez hai, isme koyi corruption nahi hai (It is a pure art. There is no corruption in it.) If you are able, then you will flourish," he said in Lucknow about why he took up acting. He moved to Vadodara for a year to pursue performing arts at MS University and also worked as a chemist in a lab. Next was a year-and-a-half-long stint in Lucknow at the renowned Bhartendu Natya Akademi. But it was in 1993 when he moved to Delhi to pursue acting at the National School of Drama (NSD) that stability set in. At NSD, says batchmate Geetanjali Kulkarni who starred in the National Award-winning Court, he was known for improvising and making an impact in the smallest of roles. "He had a weird sense of humour which I see in his performances even today," she says. Remembering his days at NSD, Siddiqui says, "I was in a group of four to five boys who never succeeded in getting girlfriends." But being unlucky in love meant that he had additional time to focus on acting. "NSD helps you to find out what you are. You learn a lot about your positives and weaknesses." Thereafter he spent two years doing street plays in Delhi. Seeing NSD alumni in films such as Shekhar Kapur's Bandit Queen inspired Siddiqui to head to Mumbai in 1999. He found space under the roof of batchmate Puneet Trivedi in an apartment near Aarey Milk Colony which he shared with four others. Siddiqui's first part, a 40-second appearance in Sarfarosh (1999), was pure luck. The makers had wanted his batchmate Nirmal Das but couldn't locate him. But it wouldn't turn his fortunes around. It'd only be with the small but dramatically pertinent part in Anurag Kashyap's Black Friday (2004), which in turn would help him land his first lead role in Prashant Bhargava's Patang in 2007, that he'd register with the film fraternity. "Even today I will do anything for him (Kashyap)," says Siddiqui about the director whom he met on the sets of Shool. "His opinion along with (producer-director) Sajid Nadiadwala's really matters to me." Siddiqui and Shamas have also never forgotten Kashyap's advice: "An actor is like a flower, protect him and don't let him fly away." No wonder then that the descriptors "down to earth" and "simple" are repeatedly heard while talking about Siddiqui in Lucknow. "Throwing tantrums and wearing a fancy suit won't make me a better actor, so I don't do that," said Siddiqui to much approval from the IIMites. His phones and even some clothes are hand-me-downs from his brother. Siddiqui is the sort of actor who is content with carrying one black suit to Cannes. Sanah Kewal, his make-up artist for over two and half years, talks of how he treats his staff-which includes manager Aditi, spot Deepak and driver Ashok-like family. "I have learned so much in life from him-being patient and never losing your cool," she says. Siddiqui admits that he doesn't know how much money he has in his account. "Ashok will know more about it than I do," he says. While he has an office on Yari Road in Versova, Mumbai, he still lives on rent in the same neighbourhood. Last year he spent his savings to retrieve the farmland which his father lost in Budhana. His mother and three brothers still live there. "He doesn't have many demands from life," says Shamas. This ordinary approach to life resonates with people. Travelling on the same Lucknow-bound flight as Siddiqui, Fatehpur-born Rajshri Rani Pandey, leading lady of Zee TV show Suhani Si Ek Ladki, says, "His success makes you happy because it's like one of us has made it. He acts from the heart. There are good-looking, handsome heroes but the real-life hero looks like Nawazuddin." If that's the way he is perceived, then Siddiqui has succeeded in his mission. "People have always thought of a hero as someone who is always perfect," he says. "I want the audience to like someone who is like a real human being, full of weaknesses and also positives." After 15 years in the industry, the rewards are coming in. He will next be seen with Shah Rukh Khan in Raees, which will make him one of the few actors to have worked with the SuperKhan troika. Sujoy Ghosh is developing a film with him and Amitabh Bachchan. Even the money's getting better. In 2013, he signed Haraamkhor for Rs 1 lakh. The same day he signed another project for Rs 1 crore, he says. A film is a film for him, whether it is a small one with a newcomer or a star-driven project with a big banner. "I won't do any film just because it has a big actor and it will get a wide release," he says. "I need to have a challenging character." Having finally found his feet in Bollywood, Siddiqui, like Irrfan Khan, is also looking at Hollywood. An international festival run and release for Ritesh Batra's The Lunchbox ensured that Siddiqui got eyeballs. Soon he will be seen in Lion, which stars Nicole Kidman and Dev Patel. It's a small part of a cop but then the length of a role has never deterred Siddiqui from pursuing his passion. With the tour of his home state done, Siddiqui is looking forward to home in Mumbai. Some time can be spent with four-year-old daughter Shora. He and his wife, Anjali, recently welcomed a son, Yaani, named after the pianist. But before all of that, there is Nigam once again. Travelling 20 km on her two-wheeler, she has been waiting since 5 a.m. to say goodbye to her hero. "All these people who are following him after Bajrangi Bhaijaan are not true fans," she says. "I'm fan number one." She takes one last photo-this time a selfie. She knows he will be back. He is a star, finally.
