The rise and rise of Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who was in Dubai on Monday, opened up to City Times about his next film Manjhi - The Mountain Man, his struggles, and delayed success

A dark, lean, awkward, painfully shy, short and a brooding man with looks that aren't prominent is slowly changing the system of Bollywood. A usual successful hero in Bollywood is tall, fair, flaunts 6 pack abs and can dance. Nawazuddin Siddiqui does not have any of those qualities, but he can act. He is slowly changing the perception of a stereotypical hero.

After coming to Mumbai, he struggled for over 15 years to get recognition as an actor and some respectable work. After graduating from college, he worked as a watchman in Delhi to survive. After his fascination with cinema began, he worked as an extra for over 15 years in Bollywood. He was part of the crowd in movies like Munnabhai MBBS, Jungle, Aaja Nachle, Shool and others because he fit the sketch of a poor man. He was always the watchman, drunkard or the extra on the sets. He also did a 40-second role in Aamir Khan's Sarfarosh in 1999. But in the last five years, the new wave of bold filmmakers started emerging in Indian Cinema.
They lapped up Nawazuddin's talent. He suddenly became the star of movies that were low on a budget but high on script and talent. He played a significant role in bridging the gap between commercial and arthouse cinema. After the humungous success of The Lunchbox, more important movies started getting funded. He made it to Cannes with Gangs of Wasseypur and Miss Lovely. Even big commercial films such as Kick, Raees, and Bajrangi Bhaijaan landed in his kitty. "Feels good when people appreciate your work, it feels your hard work was worth it," said Nawazuddin Siddiqui, after his meet and greet session with his fans at the Etisalat office in Dubai on Monday. He is a living example that hard work, honesty, and sheer passion can take you to places. Right now, he is excited about his role as Dashrath Manjhi in Manjhi - The Mountain Man.
Nawazuddin on his toughest role so far
Based on a true story, Manjhi - The Mountain Man is an inspiring story of an unsung hero, Dashrath Manjhi (Nawazuddin), the man who single-handedly cut a mountain to pave a path from his village Gehlore to the nearest town, Wazirganj near Gaya in Bihar. After an accident in 1960 in which Dashrath lost his wife, Phaguniya (Radhika Apte), he plunges into his mission, which, like the Taj Mahal, took him nearly 22 years to complete.
The Lunchbox star called Manjhi his most challenging role so far, "Manjhi is the most challenging role of my career so far. If you see the film you will understand what a different role this was to play. The role required me to age from 22 years to 70 years. It was hard to pick up the accent and get into the mindset of a man, whose only purpose in life was to break the mountain. Manjhi was driven by love. We can only fantasize these things in today's age. This kind of love doesn't exist anymore. To make such character and mindset believable, a lot of efforts was taken. It took me two months after the shoot was over to get out of it. After the film wrapped up, I went to Jaisalmer for a fortnight to relax my inner self."
The gifted actor stressed on the fact that we have forgotten what it is to help others. At a time when people are getting extremely self-centered, the film might help awaken humanity inside us.
Craft of acting
While talking to City Times during the release of Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Salman Khan said, "I do not know what school of acting did Nawaz go through, but the work that he has done is what he has seen and observed. He was mentioning that for 12 years he did not have any work, so he was only observing people, I guess that is good schooling." Nawaz was surprised by Salman's comment and said, "Did Salman really say that? He is right. Pick up any of my characters and you will notice that people around me always inspires it. For Lunchbox, my character was based on my room partner. For Bajrangi Bhaijaan, it was based on Chand Nawab from Pakistan. I think if we keep our mind open and are aware of our surrounding, an actor can pick many good things. I want to experiment a lot with myself and do different roles. For so many years we have a typical 'hero' role, apart from that, I want to do everything else. Indian cinema is going through a wonderful time, different movies are getting made and I want to make most of it."
The 41-year-old actor, who starred with Salman in Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Kick, Aamir Khan in Talaash and will be seen opposite Shah Rukh Khan in Raees in 2016.
 
Watch Manjhi at home in the UAE
Nawazuddin was in Dubai this Monday for the premiere of Manjhi's digital release at the Etisalat auditorium. Nawaz indulged in the meet and greet session with his fans, which was followed by the live screening of the film. Manjhi - The Mountain Man is yet to release in UAE theaters, but Etisalat is bringing the worldwide release of this film directly to the home in the UAE.
The movie will be exclusive to Etisalat customers for one month. Manjhi is available to rent on demand for Dhs30 for a 48-hour period. It is being said that digital will be a big platform for cinema in the future, especially for small budget movies. Movies that do not make it cinemas due to lack of stars can make the most out of the digital platform. "We want to get the best and latest movies before others and I think Manjhi was a good opportunity.
I hope customers will enjoy this exclusive movie for them. 'On demand' film is very popular with our customers, it starts from Dhs15 to 30. If you go out, you spend more than that just on the taxi or the petrol. This is a family thing; you are comfortable at home with family, sitting on the couch with your snacks," said Rashed Majed Alabbar, Vice President, Home Products Marketing, Etisalat.
arti@khaleejtimes.com