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Home , Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Ram Gopal Varma, Sarfarosh

INSPIRING STORIES – PART IV

NAWAZUDDIN SIDDIQUI – GRIT AND DETERMINATION PAVES THE WAY

Nawazuddin Siddiqui is a well-known name in Indian . We know him as a versatile actor, an icon from Indian cinema who does not fit the typical film hero mould but we love him for the roles he has assayed. He features in my list of inspiring stories because here is a personality who paved the way despite all odds.

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES: Childhood memories are always special, a treasure that makes us nostalgic. We often laugh, cry or get angry and are quite emotional reminiscing about it. But childhood memories are the ones that grooms us and stays with us forever. Nawazuddin Siddiqui has shared his childhood memories quite often in various forums. Born in of district in , , he spent his childhood there. He recalls with glee of the days he spent playing marbles in the narrow lanes of Quaziwara or stealing sugar canes from trucks on the highway nearby or flying kites with friends. At home however, the story was different as life was steeped in poverty.

Nawazuddin, the eldest of nine siblings went to a government school nearby. There was electricity shortage at home, so sometimes he studied under a lamp post, though hard to believe it is a common sight in villages and small towns even today. Nawazuddin saw his father, a simple unassuming person, a farmer by profession, shifting from one job to another as he could not fit in. His family suffered as there were so many to feed. People in Budhana believed in three things ‘Aan, Baan and Shan’. They resorted to violence at the click of finger. So, Budhana was famous not only for wheat and sugarcane but was notoriously famous for guns. After Nawazuddin finished school he enrolled for graduation in a local college in . The unwritten rule in our society is to start earning once we graduate. To stop the wagging tongues back home and to make end meet he started working as a chemist in Vadodara. He was however unhappy with the salary so he quit after a year. Looking for better prospects he shifted to . Little did he know then, the journey he undertook was to rewrite his own destiny.

DESTINED TO BE AN ACTOR: In Delhi, he started working as a watchman because he needed to earn. It’s here that he saw a play where a friend portraying the role of Ram inspired him to take up acting as a career. He started molding himself by watching plays. In an interview he said that while preparing for a character he tried to know the ‘politics of the character’. He meant that to reach to a particular emotional state, the character must have been through a set

1 of events. He tried to read them and then enact the scene. Theater assuaged his artistic temperament so he started pursuing acting earnestly, taking up any small role that came his way. Theatre did not pay well enough to take care of food and boarding so he took up watchman’s job at various places. He spent almost five years juggling between being a watchman and working as a theater artist. He realized there was not much name and fame as a theater artist, it did not pay well so his next big step was to act in film.

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

All roads for acting in films lead to Bollywood, he knew to be successful there he had to master the craft very well. He wanted to join (NSD) for which he needed money. He had his mother’s unstinting support as she kept her gold jewelries as mortgage to borrow money for his admission in NSD. After enrolling in NSD, his formal training in acting started and he soon realized what the film industry was all about. He took stock of himself and gauged that his looks were unimpressive so his acting skill had to be such that he bowls over the audience. Nawazuddin since childhood, was artistically inclined, he liked to observe and study the nuance of every personality he came across, be it his siblings, relatives, friend, colleagues or any unknown person on the road. This helped as he spent hours together practicing for a role, trying to get into the character. He passed out from NSD with an acting degree in 1996. Post degree his struggle started in earnest. He decided to chase his dream and shifted to Mumbai thereby adding his name to the endless queue of aspiring actors.

Mumbai also called ‘City of Dreams’ is the film capital of India. It is here that thousands of aspiring actors from every part of the country line up every day with a dream in their eyes, a dream to rule the Bollywood box-office. In Mumbai, Nawazuddin immediately started looking for an opening, he would walk from one production house to another trying to meet the casting directors. For a beginner without any connection he struggled to get small roles but nothing materialized. Everything went against him, his looks, his height, his upbringing, his status etc. In an era of chocolate heroes, casting guys would look at him and wonder how a five-foot, dark skinned man could ever think of becoming a hero. These comments if anything, made him stronger he remained unfazed and finally in 1999 made his debut with a miniscule role of a terrorist in starrer Hindi film ‘’. In 1999, he did a small role in ‘School’ and in 2000, ‘Jungle’ by . In 2003, he was in Munnabhai MBBS by

2 . By now he was living in utmost poverty so he accepted any role that came his way. He tried earning his living by conducting acting workshops. In 2003 he acted with Irfan Khan in a short film ‘The Bypass’. The period between 2002 and 2005 with no work in hand, no money, no food, surviving in Mumbai for Nawazuddin became almost impossible. These were the worst years of his struggle to stardom however he was optimistic that one day his determination will pave the way, he just wanted one scene or a dialogue to show his caliber and he waited wholeheartedly for that chance. Nawazuddin by then was totally broke, he requested his senior from NSD if he could stay with him as he did not have money to pay rent. The senior agreed provided Nawazuddin was willing to cook meals for him. Lesson learnt that nothing comes free in life and he started cooking for his senior. During this period, he tried his luck in television serials and a few short films, sadly nothing worked. He however never felt he should go back to his native. Every day was a new day and every day was a struggle but he was determined to stay back and make his mark.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Nawazuddin Siddiqui Nawazuddin Siddiqui honoured with the Manjhi – The Mountain Golden Dragon Award at Cardiff Man International Film Festival for excellence in cinema in the International arena

As time flew by, changing trends saw a dynamic shift in Bollywood scripts. Regional based stories were well received and actors who looked the part gained popularity slowly and steadily. Nawazuddin started getting small roles over the next few years because of his rustic unconventional look. The actor however feels that his looks is not unconventional as 90 percent of Indians look like him. In his opinion - Tall, fair and handsome heroes of Bollywood are very few and rare in Indian population so they are in fact unconventional. He got an important break in ‘Black Friday’ (2007) by . Nawazuddin’s lead role in Patang, as a wedding singer took him to the Berlin International Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival. His role as a journalist in ‘’ was well received. The world opened up to him with films like

3 and after box-office success of these two films Nawazuddin did not look back. The acting skills of this wonderful actors came to light as he started acting in movies like Lunchbox, Kick, , Talaash, Badlapur, Raees, Manjhi – The Mountain Man and also the Oscar-nominated Lion. He has won several awards both national and international. He is known for his power packed performance. A thinking actor who remains grounded and learns every day to date. Yes! Nawazuddin Siddiqui has arrived, it is his grit and determination that paved the way. An inspirational journey no doubt.

REFERENCE: 1. https://yourstory.com/2017/02/nawazuddin-siddiqui 2. https://www.drilers.com/post/nawazuddin-siddiqui-the-watchman-who-made-it-big-into- bollywood 3. https://tosscall.com/soloblog/16/Nawazuddin-siddiqui 4. https://www.filmibeat.com/celebs/nawazuddin-siddiqui.html 5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9KAoTQlEWs

Dr. Moitreyee Saha Head, Department of Botany VPM’s B.N. Bandodkar College of Science, Thane.

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