HINDUSTAN TIMES (December 13, 2019)

When Nawazuddin Siddiqui was shooting in the US for his next film No Land’s Man, he learnt that he lost his sister Syama, who had been fighting cancer for the past eight years. Yet, the actor completed his shooting schedule showing his dedication and commitment towards the project, while keeping his emotions in check. But during one of the scenes, he couldn’t stop himself and began crying.

Director Mostafa Sarwar Farooki penned down an emotional note on Facebook, which read: “Life of an artist! While rehearsing a scene from No Land’s Man, Nawazuddin Siddiqui became slightly emotional but, since he is extremely professional, he quickly regained his composure...The scene I mentioned was between him and his sister, whose reel name was Saima. He asked me if I knew his sister’s name was Saima, too. I answered in negative as my script was written five years ago and I had no idea about his sister. He then told me his sister has been suffering from cancer for eight years and he has been trying everything he could to help her in this battle. So, whenever he had scenes with Saima, he was feeling extremely emotional. (sic).”

While Mostafa forgot about this connection, he soon learnt how professional the actor is when the latter performed a scene “brilliantly” even after learning of his sister’s death. “I could completely understand how he was feeling. I didn’t know how to deal with this situation. But he knew. While coordinating everything back home, he continued his shoot and made sure our New York shoot is completed…” posted the director.