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‘Upset’ Nawazuddin Siddiqui didn’t visit his village for 3 years after father banned him: ‘Stop coming here after getting beaten up’

Nawazuddin Siddiqui recalled how deeply worried his father was whenever he saw him getting beaten up on screen, even going so far as to ask him not to come to the village. He was allowed back only after beating up people in Gangs of Wasseypur.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui was last seen in the film Thamma.Nawazuddin Siddiqui opened up about his struggling days. (Photo: Raj Shamani/YouTube)

Nawazuddin Siddiqui is a name widely recognised across audiences. He is frequently mentioned among the greatest actors working in contemporary Bollywood. However, as has been often noted, his path to success was neither swift nor easy. It took him nearly two decades to establish himself in the industry. Like many outsiders, his journey began with small, inconspicuous roles in films. If one looks closely, one can spot him in movies such as Sarfarosh and Munna Bhai MBBS, often playing a goon brutally thrashed by other characters.

In a recent conversation with YouTuber Raj Shamani, Nawazuddin revealed that his father was particularly uneasy seeing his beloved son repeatedly beaten up on screen. “In the beginning, I was getting roles where I was always getting beaten. In Sarfarosh, my first film, I was being beaten. Then in Munna Bhai MBBS, the same thing happened. Sometimes I played a thief, sometimes a pickpocket. And when people from my village watched these films, they would come from the cities and say to my father, ‘Your son is always getting beaten in films.’ Every year, it was the same thing, and my father was very tense about it. We are from Western UP, where everyone thinks highly of themselves.”

He went on to recall a conversation he had with his father during that period: “One day, my father called me and asked, ‘What are you doing in these films?’ I asked him what he meant. He said, ‘Everyone says your son is getting beaten in these movies. Why do you take on these roles?’ I replied, ‘I don’t get anything else; I’m trying.’ Then he said, ‘Then stop coming here after getting beaten up.’ I was very upset hearing that and didn’t return to my village for three years.”

Nawazuddin then remembered how his career took a turn with Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur, which truly put him on the map. In the film, he portrayed a gangster who wreaked havoc on everyone around him. After the film’s release, he called his father and returned to his village. “I went back and asked him, ‘So, what do you think?’ He said, ‘Yes, this time you did a good job.’”

Also Read | I’ve struggled for over 15 years, hope is what saw me through: Nawazuddin Siddiqui

In the same conversation, he reflected on how his mother has always been immensely proud of seeing him on screen. He specifically recalled her reaction after watching him in Salman Khan’s Kick. “There was a scene in Kick where I was sitting on piles of money, dressed well. After she watched the film, I asked her how she liked it. She said it was a good film and she enjoyed my role. Then I asked her what she liked the most. She said, ‘The best part was when you were sitting on thousands and thousands of notes, that scene really pleased me.’ I asked her why, and she said, ‘Because you were sitting on so much money.’”

Nawazuddin Siddiqui was last seen in the film Thamma.

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