Even TV industry had rejected me: Nawazuddin

• Posted by Sindhuri G August 28, 2012 - Filed in Entertainment - 2,147 views

  Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a heart-to-heart chat with Times of India
  
  You are doing Ketan Mehta's biopic —Mountain Man?
  Yes, it will be my most challenging role so far because Dashrath Manji, a Bihar based labourer did an impossible task of cutting a road from a mountain and he took 22 years to do that. It will require research and capacity to get into the skin of the character and work on this. I remember Ketan Mehta as a filmmaker who gave us movies like Holi and Mirch Masala. One has to understand the intelligence or vision of a filmmaker.
  
  You are a favourite with Anurag Kashyap.
  Anurag is a genius. I have been working with him for a long time now and when he is directing me, I know that I will give my best!
  
  Gangs of Wasseypur part 2 did not make as much money as GOW 1.
  GOW - 2 was made on a small budget of `8 crore and the movie's first week collections were higher than GOW - 1. The movie did a business of `18 crore. In fact, till date all my films whether it is Kahaani, Paan Singh Tomar or GOW-2, all my movies have earned money at the BO.
  
  
  
  Would you like to be part of `100 crore club of films now?
  Never! There are filmmakers who make films in `90 crores budget and when their films make `100 crore, they throw a party. I am not interested in doing films with cliche characters and scripts — ek raja hota hai, ek raani hoti hai, ek villain aata hai and ladaai hoti hai, and then they live happily ever after! I want to do different genres and I want to play characters that people can relate to. Every time when I have visited international film festivals, people ask me why do Bollywood filmmakers spend so much on songs and why are dancers dancing like that behind a hero? They understand Bollywood only as song and dance films, which is not true. It is high time small budget films are showcased abroad.
  
  
  Your struggling days include working with C-grade filmmakers. You are portraying a similar character in your next flick?
  My struggle period has many horrible stories but I would rather not talk about them. In fact, there was a time when the TV show makers would reject me for even a beggar's role, because I was not tall enough. The television industry didn't give me any work. I also worked with C-grade filmmakers and did small roles for survival. My next film, Miss Lovely is about a C-grade filmmaker.
  
  With your new found stardom, what are your dreams?
  My dreams have never been about buying a house or a car. I have decided that I would like to be part of meaningful films and believe me, if I don't get good films, I will go back to my village in UP and do farming.