Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Biography

As a child, Nawazuddin was quick to mimic an acquaintance he met just a few minutes back. He always had a keen observation and could predict how a person would act and react in a particular situation. He started getting adjudged as an insightful child amidst a huge joint farmer family. He adored a girl in his village who always fancied wedding band players and performers. Nawazuddin was carried away by the girls? interests and followed her to the performances. Way back in 1970s, where the only source of entertainment in his village used to be village carnivals, folk performances and festivals, Nawazuddin couldn?t resist admiring the power of the performers which could assimilate one and all of the village at a time and give them opportunity to laugh, cry, dance and above all entertain them. He always thought he could perform better than them. When Television made its debut in his village, the villagers including his love interest started flocking towards a single TV screen. He wanted to be admired by his beloved in the same way she admired the actors on TV.

This desire was thriving during his graduation, became fierce during his early jobs and finally landed him at National School of Drama (NSD), Delhi. At NSD, he was popular as a humor artist. His character as ?Borkin? for the play Ivano written by Chekov won him accolades as a versatile actor. He kept his passion alive by doing street plays and was in constant endeavor to explore his skills for suitable roles. During his struggle phase, Nawazuddin came to know about his beloved who was married to a man double her age with 6 kids and was restricted from watching Television and taking resort to any forms of entertainment. He was quite disappointed with society?s hierarchy and felt women should fight for their emancipation.

His initial days of struggle in Mumbai tested his passion and patience for acting. He did television, short films and small roles in Bollywood movies. He no longer wanted to get typecast and was on constant lookout for right opportunity to showcase his potential. He got his first breakthrough with ?Black Friday?. Followed by series of small yet substantial roles in films like Firaq, Peepli Live, New York and Kahaani.

Nawazuddin is now very selective about his roles and believes in moving steadily albeit rebelliously. He is busy working on many interesting projects in Indian and global cinema.