Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; November 12, 2019)

After a series of intense roles, Nawazuddin Siddiqui is relieved to work in a comedy film. Motichoor Chaknachoor, directed by Debamitra Biswal, has the actor as the hero of the story with Athiya Shetty as his leading lady. The film revolves around marriages in small-town-India. As evident in the trailer, Nawaz’s character is that of a man who has gone past what’s considered to be ‘marriageable’ age, while Athiya plays a girl who aspires to marry a man who can fulfil her desire to travel abroad.

When we met Nawazuddin recently for a chat, he told us how this is his first film that's got a U/A certificate and that he is glad that his daughter, Shora, can watch this one with him. “This is the first time that I’ve done such a family entertainer. It has romance and a lot of humour, which is not vulgar or double-meaning and it was a relief to do all of this. I didn’t have to do any kind of prep as such for this role. It’s a light-hearted film, which is a break from the serious fare that I often pick,” he said.

Underlining the importance of a light, frothy entertainer at this juncture in his career, he added, “For an actor, every film is equally important. When I started shooting for this film, I was actually coming out of an intense project, which had exhausted me emotionally. I needed either a light film to flush that out of my system or a two-month holiday. A film like this helped me rejuvenate my senses.”

For those who have followed Nawaz’s trajectory, it’s hard to imagine him frontline a comedy film. When we brought this up, he said, “I started my career in theatre with comedy, so much that it was hard for them to imagine me in any serious role. In fact, I had acted in around 200 comedy plays. When I came to Mumbai, I started out with serious roles because I needed a break from that.”

In the film, Nawaz has been paired with Athiya, who is years younger than him, both in terms of age and experience. So, did it ever get awkward while creating chemistry on screen with her? The actor said, “No, I just had to channel my thoughts... ki agar isi ladki se sach-much romance karta toh kya hota aur kaisa hota (laughs!). I really enjoyed working with Athiya. She did a two-month workshop and picked up the dialect really well. I met her for the first time at the narration table and then straight on the set. She came prepared and was equipped to play her part. This film will actually show people how well she acts.”

Motichoor Chaknachoor, produced by Viacom18 Studios and Woodpecker Movies’ Rajesh and Kiran Bhatia, releases on November 15.