Smart cop in a lazy town is how Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s Inspector Negi is described in the promos of Rautu ka Raaz that dropped on Friday on Zee 5. The ace actor speaks about his new release and also his 25-year journey in the industry.

You were a dynamic cop in Kahaani. Here too you are back in uniform solving a case. How are the two cops different?

The officer in Kahaani was fast-paced. Here too he is a smart guy but in a lazy town. He is a skilful guy. Though he stays in the village, he is an updated man. The ambience is slow, so is the police force. Murders do not take place in such a sleepy village. Yet one happens. So they wake up to it and find their own way of dealing with it.

For Rautu ka Raaz, you shot on location in Uttarakhand.

Yes, we shot among the villagers in Rautu ki Beli. Some local people who are not even actors will be seen in the film.

Can you talk about the chemistry with your assistant Dimri?

Rajesh (Kumar, who plays his assistant Dimri) is such an amazing actor. The same chemistry you see in the film is there in real life. I love him a lot and he respects me. He is such a wonderful actor. I am surprised that he has done just two or three films so far. He is very talented. No one has understood him. He has such great timing, such good understanding of acting….

OTT is said to be a far more democratic platform, which recognises talent like Rajesh Kumar, than Bollywood.

Both have their own beauty. Pehle toh itna achcha space tha OTT ka. Ab kyun ki itna zyada ban raha hai, kahin na kahin halka phulka quality suffer kar raha hai. Kyun ki supply-demand aa gaya hai, yeh toh hona hi hai.

Are you worried about the effect of the entry of big stars in the OTT space?

That fear is always there as big stars call for big budget for the production. In OTT, you cannot make out whether people are seeing the film or series or not. Yet they throw success parties!

You have become a big name now.

I am not a star. I am an actor. I don’t have much demand. I have come from a theatre background. The films I do are small budget. They don’t make losses, be it in cinemas or on OTT, simply because the budget is so small. What happens is when a film is made at an investment of Rs 100 crore, if it goes on to earn Rs 100 crore at the box office, it is celebrated as a hit. But our films are made at Rs 5 crore. When they make Rs 25 crore, it is not talked about as a hit as it has earned less. No one notices that it has made so many times profit! Yeh ganit hamare samajh mein nahin aata.

Big films also get more screens.

Purey Hindusthan mein aap ghar se bahaar nikliye, saamne unhi ke filmein lagi rehti hai. Aur kya chahiye hai?

Do you feel bad that small films don’t get so many screens?

Screen bhi nahin milti, support bhi nahin milti. Dekhiye chhoti film hi desh ka naam roshan karta hai. This has always happened in the past and this is what will happen in future. The films that went to Cannes, the whole world is talking about them. They are all made on modest budgets. If the country gets recognition in the world of cinema, it will happen with small films — content-driven, modest-budget films.

Talking of your recent release Haddi, the acting of a transgender was so natural.

Haan, teen ghanta make-up karne mein, do ghanta utarne mein. Thik hai, main jhel liya. It is a part of my job. I was determined that my portrayal should not come across as a caricature. Un logon ki beizzati nahin honi chahiye. I tried to be as honest as I could. I spent about 10 days with the transgender community before shooting started. I tried to understand their way of thinking, their attitude to life, their mannerisms... it was a very difficult character. I tried to bring out a feminine, a transgender from within me rather than copying them and ending up as a caricature. This was my challenge.

You shared pictures of your blue-and-white bungalow. How much of your life are you comfortable sharing with your fans?

Parde ke peeche alag life hai, wahan main sakun chahta hoon. I do not have much fascination about big house, cars etc. The house was not my dream. You leave me in a desert, I can spend my life there. Of course, I would still come to Bombay to work and go back. Jhopdi de do pahad mein, main utni khushi se reh loonga jitna ab hoon. Mujhe utna lagao nahin hai in cheezon se, main sachchi bata raha hoon.

It’s been 25 years since you were seen in a small role in Sarfarosh. How has the journey been?

It has been a journey with highs and lows. I am happy that I got diverse roles to play that I wanted to do. Every film, every character has given me a chance to experiment.

You still have not done a film based on the region you come from in western Uttar Pradesh.

Sahi pakde hai aapne. I want to do something based there. If I get such a role, it will be fun to do.

Which three films of yours do you take the maximum pride in, that you would recommend to those who have not seen your work?

My three choices would be Haddi, Thakrey and Photograph. They are very different. In Haddi, I had to play a transgender. (The biopic) Thackeray too was difficult. Photograph was a role in which there was nothing extra to work with. Simple sakal surat ka banda hai jo photographer hai. If he walks by you will not even look at him. I find it exciting to do such roles. A pauper turning into a tycoon, that kind of story does not excite me.

What comes next from you?

I have completed a film called Costao in which I have played a customs officer (based on Costao Fernandez, a retired upright customs officer from Goa who got embroiled in a controversy in the early 1990s after a politician’s son got killed during a chase in a gold smuggling case). Another film is based on Section 108, based on insurance fraud. Both will come this year.