New Delhi: Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who is now one of Bollywood's top stars, began his career by taking on small roles for a decade. The actor from a small town had no connections in the film industry and lacked the physical traits of a typical leading man has established his own place over the years. However, Siddiqui's journey to the top wasn't a cakewalk.
In an interview with ABP News, the Bollywood actor, known for realism in the roles he plays, stated that he had no option but to make it in the industry. While speaking of the time he started with theatre, the actor recalled how he took up a job as a watchman to make ends meet.
"Main theater kar raha tha, theater mein paisa hota nahi hai. Kyuki passion tha mera theater karna, paisa hai nahi toh kya kare. Toh side mein koi job kar lo. 9 se 5 wo karta tha aur 6 baje se main apne theater ke group mein aa jata tha. Jewellery leke main socha job se paisa aayega main fir wapas le lunga. Par nikaal diya gaya mujhe kyuki main bohot weak tha aur dopahar mein mujhe khade hona padta tha (I was acting in theatre, but there was no money. I had no money, but it was my passion. So I worked at this other job to make money. I worked a 9 to 5 job and then went to my rehearsals. I had some jewellery on mortgage that I planned to pay off once I started making money from this job. But because I was too weak and had to stand in the sun, I was fired)," the actor said.
Unfortunately, Nawazuddin lost his job and along with it the jewellery he had mortgaged as a security deposit.
"Dhoop lagi thi toh main faint hoke gir gaya. Aur jitni baar bhi gira, owner ne dekh liya ittefaq se. Bole kis maare hue sipaahi ko leke aaye ho. Isko hatao. Fir main lene gaya deposit toh mana kar diya. Bole gaalti aap ki hai, hum kaare wapas deposit (In the heat, I passed out. Coincidentally, the owner always noticed me when I fell. What kind of weak soldier do you have, he asked. Let him go. When I later went to pick up my deposit, they refused. They did not return it since they said it was my mistake)," Nawazuddin recounted.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui also denied rumours that he came from a poor household and claimed that he had enough to get by. There had previously been conjecture about the actor's alleged humble beginnings.
"Logon ka hai particular thought hai ki gareeb iss tarah ke hote hain, ameer iss tarah ke hote hain. Jaruri nahi jo tuxedo pehne uske paas bohot paisa ho aur jo kurta, payjama, dhoti pehen ke nikal raha ho wo gareeb ho. Aisa kuch nahi hota (People often believe that rich people live in a particular way and poor people live in a certain way. It's not always the case that the person in the tuxedo has a lot of money and the person in the kurta pyjama is poor. That is not the truth)" the actor said.
"Kyuki main struggle kar raha tha, maine kabhi pasia mangwaya nahi ghar se. Isiliye bohot saare dikkatein hui mujhe (Since I was struggling, I never asked for money from home. I encountered so many challenges because of this)," he stated while talking about his struggle days in Bollywood.
Nawazuddin gained fame after taking up the lead role in 'Gangs of Wasseypur 2' helmed by Anurag Kashyap. Before all this, the actor played a number of minor roles in popular Hindi movies including 'Munna Bhai MBBS', 'Sarfarosh', and 'Talaash'.
"Mumbai aya toh apne doston ke saath rehna shuru kiya. Unse pata chalta tha ki kahan audition ho rahe hai. 10-12 saal chote mote role karte rahe fir finally Gangs Of Wasseypur mili (I started staying with my friends when I first arrived in Mumbai. We would be told of the locations of the auditions. I played supporting roles for 10–12 years before Gangs of Wasseypur finally came around)," he said.
The actor also admitted that despite frequently getting frustrated, he never experienced depression. The belief that he would make it one day, just like his contemporaries, got him going.
"Mann kayi baar toota par humare saamne koi option toh tha nahi. Maaro-jeeyo, ro-dho, karna toh yahi hai. Humare saare aise unsuccessful logon ka jamawda tha, toh chalo iska bhi nahi hua, mera bhi, koi baat nahi. Toh yeh ek sahara mila ki kisi ke pass bhi kaam nahi hai. Humare group me se dheere-dheere establish hona shuru hue. Jaise Rajpal, Vijay Raaz aur humare seniors the Saurabh Shukla aur Manoj Bajpayee. Ek cheez rehti thi ki humare saath theater karne wala banda jab wahan ja sakta hai toh hum bhi jaa sakte hain. Ek aisa hi confidence de diya tha inhone. (I faced heartbreak, but there was nothing else I could do. I had no choice but to act. There were a bunch of unsuccessful people in our group. Therefore, we always believed that he was also unemployed, but it was okay. No one had any work and that was a relief. Later, people began to establish themselves gradually. Like Rajpal, Vijay Raaz, and our seniors Saurabh Shukla and Manoj Bajpayee. There was the belief that if someone acting in a theatre has gone there, we could too)," the actor stated.
Check out the full interview here: