Nawazuddin Siddiqui after holidaying with his wife and kids is all geared up to play the writer-playwright Manto
Natasha Coutinho (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 19, 2016)

It's rare to spot Nawazuddin Siddiqui with his family in public so pictures of him sightseeing in Melbourne with wife, Aaliya, and children, Shora and Yaani, immediately caught the eye. Even the actor admits that this was his first family vacation in five years, and the first time he had taken his kids abroad on a holiday. "Normally I'm so caught up with my shoots that we hardly get time to be together. Even in Mumbai it's hard, but when we were in Australia earlier this week, we made time to go to the Melbourne beach and the zoo. We even went shopping," he beams.

He points out that now that Shora is almost six, it's important for him as a father to take her places and give her experiences to remember. "She is usually busy with studies and sports, but you have to give children breaks too," he reasons.

Does he see Shora growing up to follow in his footsteps? "No, neither she nor my wife are in the slightest bit interested in my work... Watching movies, discussing them, visiting my sets or meeting my co-actors. Even if I talk about films at home, there's little interest or participation," he laughs, not in the slightest bit put out. "My daughter enjoys skating and football and we encourage her to train in both."

He will be seen romancing Amy Jackson in his upcoming film, the Sohail Khan-directed sports drama, Freaky Ali. Not much is known about his real life love story, how did he romance Aaliya? The 42-year-old actor shrugs, "It's a simple story without much drama. I married the girl I fell in love with. Period."

And does he plan to continue doing more romantic films? "Oh yes, I'm in talks for a few. My mind is on love stories now, I plan to do five-six more, back-to-back," he reveals.

However, next up on his list is a more intense drama, Nandita Das's next directorial, the Manto biopic. The actor is visibly excited to play the Indo-Pakistani writer, playwright and author, considered among the greatest writers of short stories in South Asia.

"Manto is a challenging project. We are focussing on highlighting his talent; he could write a story in a fraction of a second. We will also be focussing on the post-Partition film industry and his association with Ashok Kumar, besides looking at the upheavals his career went through after he moved to Pakistan," he informs, adding that the film is being made on a lavish scale. "I'm glad I'm getting to play such an intelligent man. We have begun prep and it should roll by mid-November. I have been watching plays written by Manto for a while now, but Nandita told me a lot of things about him which I had not known. I want to play him with all honesty."