When you think of the image of an avid golfer, Nawazuddin Siddiqui may not even remotely cross your mind. But during the press conference to promote his upcoming film, Freaky Ali, when someone asked him if there was a similarity between golf and his career, his answer was as perfect as Tiger Wood’s shot. He said,
INSTEPREPORT
Salman Khan talks to Instep about his equation with Nawazuddin Siddiqui and his inspirational journey.
Dubai:When you think of the image of an avid golfer, Nawazuddin Siddiqui may not even remotely cross your mind. But during the press conference to promote his upcoming film, Freaky Ali, when someone asked him if there was a similarity between golf and his career, his answer was as perfect as Tiger Wood’s shot. He said, “Golf is all about your determination to win and the patience to wait for the breaks. It also teaches you to not take one lucky shot for granted so you stay focused and on your toes throughout the game. My career followed a similar path. I waited for years to finally get where I am today and I never let my focus get distracted. Initially I never thought that films would ever excite me; and most of us have similar feelings for golf; we call it ameeron ka khel or an old man’s game but then once you get a hang of it, it teaches you what no other game does. i.e. patience.”
What I personally find most endearing about Nawazuddin is the way he has carefully guarded himself from the shimmer of Bollywood. Despite experiencing back-to-back successes and working with the biggest banners he doesn’t let the star persona dominate his simple outlook. And the views of the Khan Brothers for this wonder man are no different.
Salman Khan was recently in Dubai to promote Sohail Khan’s upcoming venture Freaky Ali that stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Arbaz Khan in pivotal roles. Instep got an opportunity to speak to Salman Khan about his equation with Nawazuddin Siddiqui, with whom he has collaborated for the third time after Kick and Bajrangi Bhaijan.
“This is my third film with him; my first one with him was Kick where he played the main villain and gave a different dimension to a typical Hindi film villain altogether.
He was as much enjoyed in the film as I was. Generally people go to see the hero of the film and the moment the frame moves to other characters, people get bored. But in his case, when I was not in the scene and he was alone on screen, he was holding the interest upright. The point is, through his work and honesty that he brings to the characters, he always manages to leave an impression and stands on his own grounds,” Khan stated in Siddiqui’s honour.
The three brothers, Arbaz Khan, Salman Khan and Sohail Khan, with Freaky Ali’s cast including Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
Best known for his roles in Kahaani, Talaash, Gangs of Wasseypur, Bajrangi Bhaijan and Badlapur, initially Bollywood was not an easy ride for Nawazuddin. Salman Khan further shared info on Nawazuddin’s humble beginning in Bollywood.
“I’m not sure if you know that his first outing in film was a role where he gets a punch from the hero and according to the director of that film, the reason why he was cast in that role was because he gives good expressions while being beaten.”
Salman Khan further pondered over the fact that “in order to survive, Nawazuddin took a job of a watchman and also worked in a chemist shop and from there to eventually landing lead roles in big films is a success story which is completely based on merit and talent. The reason why he kept getting roles, one after the other, was no matter how small his screen time was, his work was noticed. His capabilities as an actor was something that stayed in people’s mind beyond his screen time.”
Reminiscing the days of Bajrangi Bhaijaan he added, “From the kind of cinema that Nawaz was doing earlier, he jumped into mainstream commercial films and he was at complete ease. We did Bajrangi together in which he played a journalist and we both become friends and I truly feel that as much credit goes to Nawaz for the super success of Bajrangi as goes to myself and Kabir. Few times when we watched the film in the cinema, there were times people blew whistles and clapped when Nawazuddin came on screen. If he is getting solo movies, that is solely because of his incredible talent.”
Salman completely acknowledged the fact that it is relatively easier for someone who comes from a film background to make his space in the film industry, compared to someone who is a complete outsider.
“There are lots of people who are born in the film industry or have a film background. Either their fathers are writers, action directors or actor themselves and they have grown within the industry circuit; they have been to shootings, they know all the stars so they knew that sooner or later they will become part of this industry. Its not a big deal for a person coming from the film industry because they get their first break on a plate. But people like Akshay Kumar and Nawazuddin Siddiqui have made it on their own. They entered and conquered without any support and today they are one of the biggest names that can pull crowds on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday. So it is very commendable.”
Freaky Ali is all set to release worldwide on the 9th of September. Going by the snippets shown to the press during the promotional conference, this one is all set to leave an indelible ‘pitch-mark’ on audiences.
– Sadiq Saleem is a Dubai based entertainment journalist. He is also an
Instep correspondent and can be contacted on his page fb/sidsaidso.
