A trailblazer is an adjective that can be used for a pathfinder, a person who breaks barriers and builds a better world. In the Hindi film industry, this term can be used to define Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Nawazuddin, who turns 47 today, May 19, has changed what it means to be an actor in the film industry, and by doing so have paved the way for several others to follow.
Nawazuddin started his career in a small role as a terrorist in Sarfarosh in 1999 and followed it with many tiny yet memorable ones in films like Munnabhai MBBS, Aaja Nachle, Peepli Live, Black Friday and New York until he broke out with Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur 1 and 2. Since then, there has been no looking back for the actor
His journey has been well documented and he has spoken at length about his life struggles in the film industry before he got his due. He has talked about his brief work experience as a watchman in Delhi before graduating in office, and how finding work in Mumbai was not easy for him. However, despite all the hurdles, the actor decided to stick around, and thank god he did, otherwise we would never get a chance to witness the magic he creates on screen.
Nawazuddin is an actor who has never let the length of a role or the medium of his work affect the quality of his performance. My first initiation to the actor’s talent was watching him as Zilgai in Kabir Khan’s New York. Till date, people talk about how profoundly the scene impacted them. That is a massive thing to achieve in a multi-starrer with such less screen time.
When Gangs of Wasseypur released, people were shocked at the actor’s range. But when Gangs of Wasseypur 2 came out, it was like a cultural reset. People could not believe that there was an actor like him in our periphery and it took people so long to actually give him a project to lead.
Since then, the actor has led many solo projects like Manto, Raman Raghav 2.0, Haraamkhor, Photograph and Manjhi. However, he has never let the notion of a “lead actor” limit himself. Even in films where the spotlight is on someone else like Mom or Bajrangi Bhaijaan, he has shone through.
His other achievement is normalising working on OTT platform. At the peak of his Bollywood career, Nawazuddin played Ganesh Gaitonde in Sacred Games. It was a cultural phenomenon and the biggest Indian web-series, pushing the boundaries of smart storytelling and thrilling visuals. At the centre of it was a larger than life anti-hero who mouthed explicit and bizarre one-liners. He also quietly became the first pansexual lead character in the Hindi film industry, which doesn’t get a lot of attention but was important to the queer community.
He also starred in Sudhir Mishra’s Serious Men, a film about a father who tries to capitalise on his genius son. Nawaz, who has spoken about facing caste-based discrimination before, channeled a raw angst in the film. The scene in which he explains his upper caste boss that his father starved his pregnant mother to earn some money from a photographer exploiting Dalit trauma for ‘art,’ is heart wrenching. In an industry that is afraid of the word ‘caste,’ not a lot of actors would do a role like this. Be it Serious Men, Sacred Games or Raat Akeli Hai, Nawazuddin has picked the right scripts, cementing his relationship with OTT. And that has paved the way for the rest.
In 2021, when you look at the OTT space, literally every A-list Bollywood actor has migrated there. Now more than ever, actors have found projects that truly resonate with them and have satisfied them creatively. Directors can write darker, more authentic long-form stories for these A-listers. Why? Because Nawazuddin Siddiqui put their faith in a project before it was cool. Tomorrow when Shahid Kapoor, who stars in a Rs 300 crore films, makes his debut in Raj and DK’s film, the audience has Nawazuddin to thank. He has inspired so many actors who don’t fit into a fluffy beauty standard or come from a film background to keep fighting for the passion. For the audience, he has made it easier to find someone like them on screen.
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