"Acting aise karo jaise zindagi jee rahe ho, aur zindagi ko aise jiyo jaise acting kar rahe ho“, is Nawazuddin Siddiqui's life mantra. The actor, along with his Babumoshai Bandookbaaz costar Bidita Bag, visited the Bombay Times office on Tuesday and regaled the team with his quirky repartees. While it was endearing to see him blush over female attention, Bidita's simplicity and candour was refreshing. Here's what unfolded when we bombarded the bandookbaaz duo with questions about life, films, censorship and more...

Nawaz, what was your wife's reaction after watching the trailer of Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, given its much talked-about steamy scenes?
She was insecure for two days after watching it. Mujhe thoda manana pada. I explained to her that it's just acting, not real. She's not really into films, but I am sure she wondered, 'Kya pata acting thi ya kya'. (Laughs)

You've said that your daughter loved you in The Lunchbox, but you are not comfortable with her watching all your films.What about Babumoshai...?
Well, she saw Munna Michael as well, but I didn't let her watch Raman Raghav 2.0. Most of my films are not suitable for kids, so my children don't end up watching them. That's why I am thinking ki ab mujhe shaadi byah wali filmein karni chahiye or a love story with five-six songs.

Bidita, how intimidated were you while working with a powerhouse performer like Nawazuddin?
I was initially intimidated, but he is a very nice person. He makes his co-actors feel comfortable, is supportive, gives inputs and even discusses scenes beforehand. He ensures that together, we take the scene to another level.

Bidita, were you apprehensive about doing intimate scenes on screen? We also heard that the kissing scene required several retakes. Did that make you more uncomfortable?
I am always fearless in front of the camera, I don't think twice. I just need to be sure about the script. Also, I had mint, a cup of green tea and lots of water before the kissing scene with Nawaz (laughs). It so happened that I had to shoot this particular scene on the second day and I sensed discomfort on the set. I was trying to look cute like a regular heroine while performing and it wasn't working out, as my character has to exude a certain rustic flavour. So, I demanded retakes.

Nawaz, what about you?
Main thoda nervous ho gaya tha pehle. Par director ne bataya karna hai, toh karna hai. Also, we shot that scene in 48 degrees, so it was literally hot. Paseene choot rahe the. We had to take some retakes for technical reasons (posture, camera angles etc).

Bidita was roped in after Chitrangda Singh walked out of the film, apparently saying that she was not comfortable getting so intimate on screen. Nawaz, what was your reaction then?
We had already shot the intimate scenes before she had walked out. Unka issue script ko leke tha, she backed out because of that. Then I reshot those scenes with Bidita. So, I got to romance two heroines in one film (smiles).

Nawaz, while you play a bandookbaaz, darubaaz and bandibaaz in your latest film, one of your previous outings was Haraamkhor. Prior to that, there was Raman Raghav 2.0. Do you wonder why you are a favourite choice to essay grey characters?
I have also done Manto, in which I played a padha-likha insaan. Par beech beech mein iss tarah ki filmein bhi hai. I like doing characters with grey shades because they give you ample scope for performance. Also, I have no interest in having the screen image of a typical Bollywood hero, who is sarvagunn sampanna. He is good looking, wears good clothes, has a pretty heroine around him, baatein bhi bahut achcha karta hai aur style bhi achcha hota hai. Real people are not like that, are they?

But a lot of actors safeguard their screen image and are conscious about changing it...
Agar yaha pe censor na hota, toh main aise aise kaam kar deta. For example, when Raman Raghav 2.0 was screened at Cannes, a lot of people told us that we had compromised on the content by downplaying the violence. At international film festivals, Anurag (Kashyap) is often told that he shouldn't compromise on the content. However, when the same film releases in India, we hear things like, 'Kya bekar aur besharam log Hai. Kaisi cheez dikha rahe hai, bhai-behen ke saath'. The society has become so hypocritical that it's hard to mirror reality. Censorship also limits an actor. For example, when you improvise, you cannot be conscious about the words you utter; if you are constantly worried about a controversy being triggered because of that, you are compromising on your creativity. Yeh ek aur reason hain, jaise maine pehle bola, ki ab mujhe shaadi-byah wali filmein karni hi chahiye.

Nawaz, do you consider a film's box-office viability while choosing it?
Not at all. Take Raman Raghav 2.0 for instance; I knew that it has no future at the BO. It's way too dark. Chal jaye toh achchi baat hai. Unfortunately, humare yahan aisi films chalti hai jahan aap audience ko hasaa ya rula sake. For an actor, these are the easiest emotions to evoke in the audience. The most difficult thing is to keep your audience neutral, which you don't see in Bollywood yet. Emotions make you lose the essence of the subject at hand, kyunki aap emotions mein beh jaate hai.

According to you, which is your finest performance till date?
I liked what I did in Te3n, but I don't think it worked with the audience. Many people thought that it was boring. I also liked what I did in Raman Raghav 2.0.

Bidita, you have worked in Bengali cinema before entering Bollywood. So, do you consider Babumoshai Bandookbaaz as your big Hindi film debut?
Yes, this is my big Hindi commercial debut. I have worked in offbeat films in Hindi, which only arty people saw at film festivals. Not many know about them as they didn't get a theatrical release, despite winning awards. This is my first mainstream release and I have huge expectations from it. Having said that, this is not a typical commercial film with a lavish budget, big crew and foreign locales. There's no glamour as such. We shot in a village, I wore a sari that cost Rs 100, blouse mein bhi safety pins dikhenge. I had no make-up and wasn't even allowed to use a deodorant so that I don't get out of my character.

Nawaz, did Bidita call you bhai, because when you worked with Huma Qureshi in Gangs of Wasseypur, you had asked her not to address you so?
I didn't tell Bidita that. During Gangs of Wasseypur, I had told Anurag that while doing romantic scenes if Huma says, 'Nawaz bhai aise karo', toh main kya karoonga?
Bidita: I had heard this story. Mujhe pata chal gaya tha, isliye I didn't take that risk.

Nawaz, you have come a long way and today, you have an entourage that follows you everywhere. How does stardom feel?
Mujhe abhi bhi yakeen nahi hota hai. Whenever people give me attention, main peeche dekhta hoon kyunki mujhe lagta hain ki woh kisi aur ko dekh rahe hain. I love the fame and fan frenzy as it motivates me to do better work. But I try and focus on my craft instead of being popular as I don't want to be distracted by these things.