Nawazuddin Siddiqui didn’t hold back anything at his masterclass at the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI), while in conversation with CBFC member Vani Tripathi Tikoo. As he answered fans’ questions, he even spoke about the dark times he went through before emerging as a powerhouse of talent that he is today.

In a startling revelation, the 48-year-old actor said that in his early days, he would not even get any TV shows because of his skin colour. “Mujhe serials mein bhi lena band kar diya tha. When I asked why was I not being taken in serials, I was told, ‘We make one episode in one day. If we take you, it will take us one and a half days because it will take time to lighten up the skin tone on your face’,” he said.

Siddiqui further said that he was also not cast because of his looks earlier. The actor, known for films such as Gangs Of Wasseypur (2012), Kahaani (2016) and Serious Men (2020), added, “When I completed my training in the National School of Drama and went to Mumbai, I thought I am a trained actor hence I will get work easily. But the exact opposite happened. When I came to the film industry, I realised that trained actors ki zaroorat hi nahin hai kisi ko, cinema ka criteria alag hai bilkul.” The actor said he felt that one needed to be a hero material and he did not fit in the image.

However, the actor is happy that the scenario has changed today, thanks to OTT platforms gaining popularity and more work happening. Siddiqui also revealed that he had almost refused the hit OTT show Sacred Games (2018) and was glad that he played the character Ganesh Gaitonde, which eventually turned out to be one of his best performances till date. The actor said that he wasn’t very interested in the show initially but when filmmaker Anurag Kashyap made him realise that it was being watched in over 190 countries, he understood how big it was.