Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s body of work has proved his penchant for pushing the envelope as an actor. No surprises then that the first look of him dressed as a woman in the upcoming film Haddi, a revenge drama directed by Akshat Ajay Sharma, has got social media talking. Intrigued by his striking new avatar, we reached out to the actor to know about this new look.

In an exclusive conversation with Bombay Times, Nawaz said, “It’s just been a couple of days. We have started the shoot of Haddi in Noida. It’s a revenge drama. I will be portraying two roles in the film — I play a woman and a transgender. These are two separate parts, it’s a double role. Akshat had this script and wanted to make the film for almost four years. Akshat has worked as a second unit director in AK vs AK and Sacred Games. I have known him since the time he was working with Anurag Kashyap. We are finally doing the film.”

While some fans were quick to point out that Nawaz’s female look may have been inspired by Archana Puran Singh’s hairdo,the actor clarified that there was no such reference, nor will he try to emulate anyone. He said, “If I am playing a female character, I need to think like a woman and that’s my test as an actor. Outfit, hair, make-up, yeh sab toh theek hai...that’s not my concern. There are experts to look into it and they know their job. Woh sab baahri cheezen hai and those will be taken care of. My concern is to get the internal thought process right.”

Nawaz said, “What do women think? What do they want? An actor’s job is to get into the head of the character he plays. Your perception, outlook towards life as a woman is bound to be different and that is the most difficult part about Haddi for me. Ek aurat ke nazariyese duniya dekhni hogi. The film is not about costumes and gestures. The process is more internal.”

Nawaz’s collaboration with female directors on various projects came handy for the prep. He revealed, “I have worked with many renowned female directors and that helped me. I realised that women look at the world differently. They are far more compassionate and see beauty in everything. For most men, it’s often about power and control. The female gaze is kinder and sensitive. I am trying to get that POV (point of view) right.”

The actor takes close to three hours daily to get his female look right. He shared, “After this experience, I have huge respect for actresses who do this on a daily basis. Itna saara taam jhaam hota hai. Hair, make-up, kapde, nails... pura sansar leke chalna padta hai. Now I know why an actress may take longer than her male counterpart to get ready. It’s absolutely justified. I will have more patience now (laughs)!”