Nawazuddin Siddiqui says actors, not directors, are blamed for film’s failure: ‘A star like Shah Rukh Khan serves so many fans…’

The actor also mentioned how when a film flops, it is never considered the director’s fault, and an actor has to take the blame for a bad movie.

“I never give up. I never shy away from working hard. The rest also depends on whether or not I’m doing my work with honesty. More often than not, there are so many reasons that a film doesn’t work at the box office. Maybe the direction is not so good. We never blame any director when a film flops at the box office. We always put the blame on actors, saying, ‘Iss actor ki film flop ho gayi,'” he said.

Nawazuddin then cited the example of superstar Shah Rukh Khan, whose movies consecutively tanked at the ticket counter, prompting him to rethink and take a sabbatical. He returns to the big screen next year in January with the actioner Pathaan.

“For example, when a star like Shah Rukh Khan, who has a massive fan following around the world, comes on board a film, he literally serves those fans on a platter to the director. If the film still doesn’t work despite all of that then it’s not Shah Rukh Khan’s fault because wo toh thaali mein itni saari audience de raha hai na director ko. This clearly means that either the director or the story is at fault. Nobody blames them. So, I’m not really bothered about all these things,” the actor concluded.

“These days most people are busy scrolling their Instagram or Twitter feeds and that’s why this generation doesn’t have much-lived experiences. I can play a thousand characters in my head because I have explored the outside world so much; met so many people in person. But today’s actors don’t have those lived experiences. They might perform phenomenally in their first film, but they won’t be able to excel in their second movie because they don’t have many reference points or any memories. That’s why these kinds of events are extremely important where live storytelling and performances are encouraged. This leaves a very different kind of impact on an artist.”

On the work front, Nawazuddin Siddiqui will next be seen in the noir feature Haddi.