Nawazuddin Siddiqui

Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Siddiqui
Born	Nawazuddin Siddiqui (1974-05-19) 19 May 1974[1] Budhana, Muzaffarnagar, Uttar Pradesh, India[2]
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1999–present
Spouse(s)	Anjali[3]
Children	2
Website	nawazuddinsiddiqui.com

Nawazuddin Siddiqui (born 19 May 1974)^[1] is an Indian film actor who works in Hindi cinema. After a period of unnoticed performances in his early career, he received the Special Jury Award at the 2012 National Film Awards.^[4][5] and Filmfare Award for Best Supporting Actor in 2013.

Early life

Siddiqui was born on 19 May 1974 in Budhana, a small town and tehsil in Muzaffarnagar district, in the western part of Uttar Pradesh state of India, into a zamindari Muslim family of Numberdars.^[1][2] He was the eldest of his eight siblings.^[6] He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar. Following this, he worked as a chemist in Vadodara for a year, before leaving for Delhi in search for a new job. Once in Delhi, he was instantly drawn into acting after watching a play, and in pursuit to secure admission at National School of Drama (NSD) in New Delhi, he acted in over ten plays with a group of friends, to fulfill one of the criteria for admission.^[1]

Career

Siddiqui went to the National School of Drama, New Delhi.^[7] After graduating from NSD, he moved to Mumbai. In 2004, which was one of the worst years of his struggle, he couldn’t pay any rent. He asked an NSD senior if he could stay with him. The senior allowed him to share his apartment in Goregaon if he was willing to cook meals for him.^[8]

Siddiqui made his Bollywood debut in 1999, with a small role in Aamir Khan starrer, Sarfarosh.^[9] After that, he played a messenger in the movie Jungle; later he hung out at film studios and shootings but only got stereotypical roles. He shared screen along with Sunil Dutt and Sanjay Dutt in Munnabhai MBBS in the opening scenes where he tries to pick the pocket of Sunil Dutt.

After moving to Mumbai he tried to get work in television serials, but did not achieve much success.^[10][11] He did a short film The Bypass in 2003, where he appeared with Irrfan Khan.^[12] Beyond that between 2002–05, he was largely out of work, and lived in a flat he shared with four other people, and survived by conducting occasional acting workshops.^[10]

His appearance in Anurag Kashyap's Black Friday (2007) paved way for other powerful roles. His first lead role in a feature film was as the wedding singer Chakku in Prashant Bhargava's Patang (shot in 2007-2008), which premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival, for which Siddiqui's performance was praised by renowned film critic Roger Ebert (awarding the film four stars),^[13] a role which 'transformed his acting style'.^[14] In 2009, he appeared in a cameo role in the song "Emotional Atyachar" in the movie Dev D in his moniker as Rangila along with his duo Rasila (known together as Patna ke Presley). Siddiqui was noticed in the film New York. However it was his role of a journalist in Aamir Khan Productions's Peepli Live (2010), that first got him recognition as an actor.^[15]

Varun Dhawan, Huma Qureshi, Nawazuddin Siddiqui at a promotional event of Badlapur (2015)

He became a household name post Kahaani (2012), where he played the archetypal short-tempered intelligence officer Khan. Anurag Kashyap's gangster epic Gangs of Wasseypur followed which furthered his fame.^[16] He played his first primary role as Sonu Duggal in Ashim Ahluwalia's Miss Lovely,^[17] which premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival,^[18][19] a role Siddiqui describes as his "most real performance so far."^[20] Siddiqui then followed this up with the sequel to Gangs of Wasseypur. In 2013, he played the lead role in the horror flick Aatma.^[21] He appeared in Aamir Khan's 2012 release, Talash. His film Patang, which was released in the U.S. and Canada, garnered much attention with rave reviews from the New York Times,^[22] and Los Angeles Times. In 2014, he played the role of a villain, Shiv Gajra, in Kick.^[23]

In 2015, Siddiqui's films Bajrangi Bhaijaan and Manjhi - The Mountain Man released and he was praised for his roles. Siddiqui appeared in a film based in Gujarat, titled Haraamkhor.^[24] For his performance in Haramkhor, he was awarded the Best Actor at the New York Indian Film Festival.^[25]

Personal life

He lives in Mumbai with his younger brother Shamas Nawab Siddiqui,^[26] who is a director. Nawazuddin is married to Anjali and they have a daughter, Shora and a son who was born on the actor's 41st birthday.^[27]

Filmography

Awards

Siddiqui's first lead role in a feature film was in Prashant Bhargava's Patang, which premiered at the Berlin Film Festival, for which Nawazuddin's performance has been praised by noted film critic Roger Ebert (awarding the film 4/4 stars),^[13] a role which 'transformed his acting style'.^[14]

He appeared in four major films of 2012 – Kahaani (2012), Gangs of Wasseypur (2012), Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2 (2012) and Talaash (2012), all of which earned him wide critical reception and awards including Screen Award for Best Supporting Actor, Zee Cine Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role – Male both for his role as Taimur in Talaash: The Answer Lies Within as well as Stardust Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Gangs of Wasseypur.

Siddiqui was awarded the Special Jury Award at the 60th National Film Awards 2012, for his work in films, Kahaani, Gangs of Wasseypur, Dekh Indian Circus and Talaash.^[34]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

• Nawazuddin Siddiqui at the Internet Movie Database
• Nawazuddin Siddiqui on Bollywood Hungama