Nawazuddin Siddqui’s single-minded passion in portraying tough, grey characters that are closer to life has helped him carve a niche for himself in Bollywood. In an interview with TheTelegraph Online,

Nawazuddin talks about his Bollywood journey, playing a transwoman in Haddi and more.

You completed over two decades in the film industry. How would you describe this journey?

Nawazuddin Siddqui: Overall, it’s been a good journey despite its fair share of ups and downs. I’m satisfied with my life right now. I never thought that all this would come to me one day. Kabhi socha nahi tha ki aisa ho jayega, but actually usse bhi achha hi hua.

Multiple awards have come to you in your decade-long career. Around eight of your films have been officially selected at the Cannes Film festival, yet there have been times when some of your most credible work went unnoticed.

Nawazuddin Siddqui: There are many characters and films that are extremely close to my heart but they have gone unnoticed. Maybe in the long run, they will not remain unnoticed. For the time being, they may not have been seen by people. I hope they will get noticed over the years. Things documented and recorded are eventually noticed by people. These things stay on and someday or the other they surely get acknowledged by people.

Does this affect you?

Nawazuddin Siddqui: Of course, I feel hurt and saddened when my work goes unnoticed. I feel that there are people who can understand good work, but they are very few and far between. I hope they understand and accept it all as mainstream. Some people understand only commercial cinema and feel a hero is someone who only knows how to romance. Heroes in real life are people who do extraordinary things.

The cliched outlook some people have is what leads to some important films not being appreciated. The people in the industry have categorised things into boxes, like commercial and art films, unconventional and conventional actors. This vocabulary isn’t kind. A film is a film no matter what.

You have done many tough, dark, grey characters. Do you feel doing deviant, difficult roles is important?

Nawazuddin Siddqui: Difficult roles are always challenging to do and that’s why I love doing them. At least I am doing something different in 1000 Crore Ki Laash . Otherwise, mainstream cinema is terribly cliched. In the last 70 years of our film industry, there is hardly anything that is new. And so, I feel that everything else that is being done is a challenge for the actor. I love doing such roles and feel portraying tough roles and characters is something that any actor will like.

What prompted you to say yes to an audio show?

Nawazuddin Siddqui: The first thing that I liked about the true crime audio show 1000 Crore Ki Laash is the interesting story and the way it’s written. And I felt that I had a big challenge in doing this. Whatever is challenging must be interesting as well.

For all these years, I have become used to the audio-visual format and it was a challenge to just use my voice to showcase the ambience, the time, the scenario and to create those different characters. It was a challenge because I had to do all that just by using my voice. I had to sustain the mystery just using my voice alone. Another thing that’s tough for audio-only format is maintaining the character continuity throughout the story. I couldn’t use any facial expression and yet had to emote.

What a fabulous look you have in Haddi! Tell us about it. How did you prepare to play the role of a transgender?

Nawazuddin Siddqui: I always do characters that are different. I’m playing a double role in Haddi, and the makeup to get that right look for the character takes me three hours! It is a painful process — sitting still in one place for so long. But it’s part of my job; it’s part of acting. And after that tedious effort of getting into the character, the actor also begins to feel that they are someone different. It’s a process and three hours of just getting my makeup done is okay because it’s a part of the film.

An anecdote and story that is really close to your heart?

Nawazuddin Siddqui: Once when I was shooting in Jodhpur, some people walked up to me saying, ‘Sir, we want to see you in more films. Your films do not reach us.’ That struck a chord. I believe that there are two kinds of actors — one is a public ka actor the other is industry ka actor. Industry actors are those who have multiple films released but the public do not really want to watch them. Yet those films are released at 3,000 to 4,000 screens. The other kind, the public actors, people want to see them but their films do not get that kind of release at all and must make do with around 600-700 theatres only.

This discrepancy is something that people have noticed and are also talking about. If you look at our film industry from here, it will have a different perspective. But if you go to smaller towns and chhote kasbe, they want a different actor. The industry is not aware of this. The actual actors of the masses do not reach enough theatres.

What are your upcoming projects? What are you most excited about?

Nawazuddin Siddqui: I look forward to all the films that I am working on. These are all challenging and great roles. There is Haddi, Noorani Chehra, Sudhir Mishra’s Afwaah, supernatural thriller Adbhut and an American film, Laxman Lopez, in which I am playing the lead role. I always thought I would only play the lead if I ever do a foreign film and now that dream is coming true. I never wanted to play a chhota role in a foreign film.