Nawazuddin Siddiqui admits he did Rajinikanth’s Petta only for the money, says he feels ‘guilty’ for ‘cheating’ in his performance: ‘Itna saara paisa…’

Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui said that he doesn’t care about money, but admitted that the only reason he works in the South Indian industries is because they pay handsomely. In an interview, the actor admitted that he is ‘cheating’ in his performances in these South films, because he doesn’t have full control over his characters, and requires somebody to explain his lines to him before filming. But because the money is so good, he chooses to participate.

Chatting with Filmfare, Nawaz was asked about his foray into the South, where he has worked in films starring Rajinikanth and Venkatesh. Admitting that he experiences a ‘lack of control’ over these performances, he said, “When I’m doing something like Raman Raghav, I am in command of my emotions, my thoughts, my soul. When I do South films, I’m not so sure. But because I’m being paid so well, I go ahead with it. I have guilt. Itna saara paisa de diya lekin samajh nahi aa raha kya kar rahe hain (They’re paying me so well, but I have no idea what’s happening).”

Also read – Nawazuddin Siddiqui says he was paid around Rs 25,000 for Munnabhai MBBS, recalls ‘stammering’ when working with Aamir Khan in Sarfarosh

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Nawaz said that ‘cheating is the right word’ to describe what he does in those films. “The audience wouldn’t get to know, but I know. It’s like doing an advertisement. I don’t have any emotion for that product, all I can see is the money I’m being paid for it,” he said. But in the same interview, Nawaz claimed that he didn’t become an actor for the money, but for the love of the craft.

“We have a sugar factory in our village Budhana. I could’ve made just as much money if I’d stuck around there,” he said, explaining why he doesn’t do theatre anymore. He said that he lost the desire to perform on the stage because he’d struggled for so long trying to crack it in the movies, and that working in theatre would remove the possibility of him taking on any other jobs at the same time. Nawaz was most recently seen in the ZEE5 film Rautu Ka Raaz. In the South, he has done films such as Saindhav and Petta.