The Unlikely Hero

The Lunchbox, an unusual love story between an aging man (Irrfan) and a housewife (Nimrat Kaur),has Siddiqui in a cameo. “Both Irrfan and Nimrat play intense characters while mine balances it with humour. What’s heartening is during the screening at Cannes,the audience were enjoying the funny bits. Mine is not a major role but it stands out for its comic touch,” he says.

However,for him, Monsoon Shootout, a fast-paced thriller,was a tougher act. It offers three possibilities as a rookie cop trains his gun at the gangster played by Siddiqui. According to its director Amit Kumar,with whom he had also done an award-winning short Bypass in 2003,as these possibilities play out on the big screen,one can notice the subtle differences that the actor brings to the character each time. “Siddiqui brings amazing dedication to work. While shooting Bypass, he did not complain about running barefoot in the hot sand of Rajasthan,and years later for Monsoon Shootout, he did not mind retakes in rain,” says Kumar.

Retreating into solitude is part of this National School of Drama graduate’s way of sustaining creativity. It prepares Siddiqui for his upcoming assignments. Last year,before the shooting for Ketan Mehta’s Mountain Man started in Bihar,Siddiqui fled to Dehradun for nearly a fortnight. “I needed that time to mull over the body rhythm,mannerisms of Dashrath Manjhi,on whom the biopic is based,and how to bring out his character. I went to the shooting location directly from the hill station,” says the actor. He believes that the effect of such breaks reflects in his work.

“If I am taking on a new character,I have to start with a clean slate,” he says. Right now, Anwar Ka Ajab Kissa demands more of his inner self. “Most of my dialogues were not written. Buddhadebda and I used to discuss a scene and after that it was left to me to make my performance convincing,” he says. Siddiqui does not want to give into commercial concerns. “If I had to earn money,I would have started some business.”