Bollywood’s Nawazuddin Siddiqui talks politics of caste in ‘Serious Men’

Gulf News

Indian actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui has an interesting observation about what kind of movies do well in Bollywood mainstream cinema.  Full Article here: https://gulfnews.com/1.74330024  See more at https://gulfnews.com/videos

Transcript

00:00So good to see you though after Sacred Games always. It's lovely to talk to you always

00:04because you do such interesting movies. I really enjoyed your take on money by the way.

00:10You're so disrespectful towards authority and your boss.

00:14I thought that is the most fun bit of it as well.

00:21You need to tell me like, did you have fun playing an irreverent role as well?

00:27The beauty of the character is that there are some flaws and some good points as well.

00:34He tries to be a bit of a fraud and has a bit of innocence as well.

00:40There's a very thin line that you have to walk on and if you look at it, it will look easy.

00:47But it's like a very difficult character to move on on this track, on this thin line.

00:54What have you done in your life to progress?

01:00I have done a lot. When I went for admission in National School of Drama, I did a lot of things.

01:07There was a requirement that there should be 10 full length plays.

01:14I didn't do those 10 full length plays. I did 5 full length plays.

01:17I'm telling you right now.

01:20Mr. Sudhir Mishra, thank you so much for joining us.

01:26He's also here. Thank you for an entertaining feature. It's a satire as well which we really

01:31enjoyed I must say. It's a portrait of the Indian, the new India I suppose, right?

01:35Of wanting to, aspiring for better I suppose and the cast and the economics of cast.

01:41Perhaps you can tell us what do you want the audience to take away Mr. Mishra from this movie?

01:46I don't know. I'm a bit of a democrat. The audience can take what they want.

01:51See, you make a film, right? And then the film belongs to an audience.

01:58People see films differently. That's why some critics will give it four stars, some will say

02:04bad. Some audience member will not like it. In Jabalpur, it will do well. In Kharagpur, it will

02:11do badly, right? So, I mean obviously those people are seeing different films.

02:17It's not the same film. They don't like it. These people like it. So, I mean I think it's a,

02:24you make a film. What I intended was to make the film about this fascinating character of

02:31Iyan Mani who takes life by the scruff of his neck, improvises, goes a certain distance

02:41when he realises he's going in some wrong direction and thus ability to pull back.

02:48This rather interesting story of a father and son and a desire of a father to see his son

02:59get things which is a normal Indian desire, right?

03:03That's true. But I thought Mani was one of the most fun characters I've seen in a lot.

03:08He was so deliciously wicked and irreverent, I have to say. He owned up to his nonsense,

03:15I feel. He was totally manipulating the system. He knew he was and he took pride out of it.

03:22Was that the best part, Nawaz and Sudhir? I mean both of it, was it having such a fun

03:27character as well, you know? He's not apologetic about his wiliness, I thought.

03:36Again, it's your film. After I made it, when you see it, it's your film. And good thing about,

03:43I mean I'm very happy when I get various kind of reactions because you will see the film from

03:49your perspective. Right, so I think that's great. But I love the character. I think he's quite,

03:59you know, he's just kind of using things in a way, I mean he's just tweaking it a bit.

04:05All education is by rote.

04:13Rote learning, yeah.

04:15It's kind of a rote learning. He's manipulating it a little more,

04:19right? And the teachers are not good enough to figure it out.

04:25Call him out, yeah.

04:26It is not where the game will end. It goes beyond him and then he,

04:33you know, what he does is the rest of the story which is like again, you know,

04:37he's a very, very interesting but he's not a bad man. He's great.

04:47That's true. I like that. And Mr. Nawazuddin, is that what you like,

04:50what did you like most about your character? Was it his unapologetic self or manipulative self?

04:57What did you think? What did you love about Mani?

04:59Both the things actually.

05:29Do you read reviews? Have you been following up on the reviews? How important do you think they are?

05:59I like reading. I mean, there are people who see my work seriously and have bothered to

06:08look at it in detail. So, I mean, I could learn from something. So, I mean, I have some friends,

06:16I mean, I've never reacted badly to criticism. It's an opinion, right? So, I mean,

06:24is one critic's opinion more important than Che Guevara's? To me? Right.

06:34Manu Joseph's opinion is important or so on. I would treat them at par and I look at everybody's

06:41opinion and I know many, you know, and I've learned sometimes, you know. But you know,

06:51sometimes I've taken opinion with a pinch of salt, sometimes I've said, yeah. And sometimes

06:59there is a right time later when you realise, no, he was right. At that time, I was a bit angry.

07:09Sometimes my own criticism of my own work is more scathing than a lot of critics.

07:16Oh, really now? How did you rate your own movie?

07:21Because I have an opinion of my work also. So, if you ask me about one or two films of mine,

07:26I would, you know, can write a pretty scathing review.

07:30Right. Did Serious Men fly, you know, pass with flying colours? Graduate with honours?

07:37No, I mean, I'll have to see it. I'm too close to it at the moment. At the moment, it's just

07:44right. I need a slight distance from it. But I have a feeling, I mean, when I see it,

07:55I like a lot of things about it. I think it's like Sudhir Mishra back again.

08:06That's true. He's back with the bag. Mr. Nawazuddin, do you read the reviews?

08:11You have got good reviews, by the way. I've been looking at a few reviews

08:15and they say you are the strength behind the movie, The Soul.

08:20Yeah, sorry. I'm being very, very realist here. But yeah, you're right. It's got some great

08:25reviews. But Nawazuddin is apparently the soul behind the film.

08:29Nawazuddin Siddiqui especially has got outstanding reviews. I don't think anybody has criticised him.

08:37No, nobody has. So, Nawaz, are you happy with all the reviews?

08:41Yes.

09:02Thank you both of you. You have entertained me and I'm sure you'll entertain millions

09:07others on October 2nd. Thank you for a wonderful film.

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