Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI: “If you have to begin from zero, you must first unlearn what you have learnt,” said Nawazuddin Siddiqui. The iconic actor, who has appeared in Bollywood’s major films such as Black Friday, New York, Peepli Live, Kahani, and Gangs of Wasseypur, addressed the ‘In- conversation’ session on the topic- ‘Journey as an Actor’ today. The session was organised on the sidelines of the 53rd International Film festival of India(IFFI), being held in Goa from 20 to 28 November 2022.
Speaking about his journey of becoming an actor, he said that after graduating from a local college, he worked as a chemist in a petrochemical company for a short while. However, to fulfil the dream of becoming an actor, he got associated with theatre. Eventually, he got admitted to the National School of Drama (NSD), Delhi.
When asked about the struggles and challenges he faced in his career’s early days, Nawazuddin said that he was offered small roles, which he had to accept as he had no other alternative and had to survive. “It is the difficult time that makes you strong,” he said.
Responding to a question on how Gangs of Wasseypur turned out to be a turning point in his acting career, he said that the movie made him believe in himself. “I was confident that my struggles would get over after this and people will appreciate this movie”, he said.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui also shared his experience of working on web series on Netflix and other OTT platforms. He said that initially, he was hesitant to work in series on OTT platforms as he had no idea about them. However, Anurag Kashyap convinced him to work on these platforms. It is to be noted that the Sacred Games web series turned out to be a big hit on Netflix.
Nawazuddin also shared his words of wisdom on playing versatile roles in biopics Manto, where he played the role of prominent Urdu author Saadat Hasan Manto, and Thackeray, in which he played as Indian politician Bal Thackeray.
When asked where he gets the drive and motivation to work every day, Nawazuddin said that acting is his hobby, and I don’t get tired of it. “Acting is my everything, it’s my life. Even one life is not enough to satiate my thirst for acting”, he added further.
During the session, the actor also shared some snippets on his role as a transgender in his upcoming movie Haddi.
