Nawazuddin Siddiqui was recently interviewed by Anupama Chopra from Film Companion regarding his new book ‘An Ordinary Life: A Memoir’, in which he stated that he was inspired to be an actor by watching Shatrugan Sinha and about how his journey as an actor turned out to be extraordinary with such a simple background and start.
Further into the interview he was asked questions regarding, on what basis does he do a film, like is it just money that drives him or is it really the script? To which he replied that, ”when it comes to certain films I do it for the money but I always put in my heart and soul to get into the character, because I believe that when an actor totally immerses themselves into the new role that is when the best performance comes out.”
Anupama Chopra took the chat ahead by asking him about, how he feels when his film turns out to be a blockbuster or doesn’t do as per his expectations? Nawazuddin Siddiqui just laughed about it and went ahead and said that “I can sense that either Indian audience is not ready to accept certain genres or we as actors are not able to understand what the audience seeks.”
He also mentioned that he thought ‘Raman Raghav 2.0’ would do great on box office and he was also told so by few of his friends but it didn’t really do as per his expectations so he just moved on from that phase.
As the conversation went deeper he was questioned about his relations with his family and about how he mentioned in his book that work has always been his primary focus. He said that, “I never deserved a family, because there are times when they want me to be around but I’m so engrossed in my characters that I just want to be there and not focus on them.”
Nawazuddin Siddiqui went ahead talking about the importance of the director’s opinion while acting. He said that, “when I’m shooting that time I want the director to share his opinion with me and not hesitate because that is when I’ll perform my best and make the scene turn out much better than my own expectations.”
He also joked about how he is always called “unconventional” but he looks like any average Indian man, while a fair chiselled physique guy is a rarity and that would be more “unconventional” than him.
It was delightful to watch the actor open up as it’s rare to see Nawaz speaking his heart out and sharing his personal and professional opinions.