Nawazuddin Siddiqui recalls his struggle tier
Nawazuddin Siddiqui recalls his struggle tier
Nawazuddin Siddiqui, acknowledged for his portrayal of struggling characters.
After breakout role 15years ago, Nawazuddin Siddiqui returns to being a ‘struggler’ in new film an acting coach in Aditya Kripalani’s ‘Main Actor Nahi Hoon,’ filmed entirely via FaceTime.
Following years of hardship, Siddiqui brings authenticity to the role of a flawed mentor. The film premiered at the Cinequest Film Festival and marks a unique, real-time storytelling approach.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui made his debut on the big screen in John Matthew Matthan’s 1999 police drama Sarfarosh. But his true breakthrough didn’t arrive until 2012, when he thrilled the audiences in Anurag Kashyap’s gritty gangster saga Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2.
That long wait of fourteen years, filled with perseverance, hardship, and unwavering determination, has emerged to such an intrinsic part of his identity that essaying the role of a struggling artist came naturally to him.
This was particularly evident in Dibakar Banerjee’s short film Star, a segment in the 2013 anthology Bombay Talkies, where he convincingly stepped into the shoes of a struggling actor.
Now, over a decade since he emerged as a leading face in Indian cinema with diverse roles in multiple languages and storytelling formats, Siddiqui is set to embody the life of a struggling actor once again. In Aditya Kripalani’s upcoming feature Main Actor Nahi Hoon (which translates to I’m Not An Actor), he takes on the part of a man who, though residing in Germany, works as an acting coach to a woman in Mumbai exclusively through FaceTime video calls. The film explores the nuances of mentorship, ambition, and identity, all while relying on an unconventional storytelling format.
Slipping into the mindset of a struggling actor doesn’t require much effort for Siddiqui. He has spent more than a decade grappling with rejection and hardship in the early phase of his career, and finds the emotional memory still sharp and deeply embedded. In a recent interview, he acknowledged that his prolonged journey of 12 to 15 years in obscurity still resonates with him. In many ways, he continues to experience challenges albeit of a different nature today. That intimate familiarity with the world of the underdog allows him to infuse authenticity and rawness into such roles.
In the midst of the interview he affirmed that it’s very easy because that phase was very long. He was a struggling actor for 12-15 years and still struggling, though in different ways. But yes, when you have first-hand experience, it turns out to be quite easy to play a character.
Main Actor Nahi Hoon premiered at the Cinequest Film Festival, held in San Jose, California—an event that takes place near the headquarters of Apple.
Apart from this film, Nawazuddin will be seen in three upcoming projects: Noorani Chehra, Sangeen, and the sequel Raat Akeli Hai 2.
News Edit KV Raman
