If the current scenario is any indication, the movie industry is a risky place for anyone to maintain a successful footprint since audiences are now rejecting movies that were popular only a few years ago. Ask Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who has been in the industry for over two decades, about what can set things in order, and the actor says, “Itna toh maine study nahi kiya hai. Par jo karte aa rahe hain, woh toh nahi chalega. Woh toh reject kar hi diya hai audience ne.” 

The 48-year-old, who is in talks for projects in the West and recently signed Roberto Girault’s indie film Laxman Lopez, adds, “The kind of projects being made before the pandemic used to work back then. Whoever is making the same films even after the pandemic, they won’t work now; that’s the major difference. Farak toh zaroor hua hai.”

While his choices have more or less been on point for the majority of his career, does Siddiqui feel that a project not working significantly affects an actor’s career? “Asar tab padta hai jap aapne dishonesty dikhayi ho [with your craft]. Aapko apni galtiyon ke baare mein maaloom hona chahiye. Maine two-three films kari, bahut chali, but I wasn’t convinced with those characters,” says Siddiqui, who was last seen in Heropanti 2 (2022). 

So, did he have to work on projects for reasons other than his role? He agrees, “Haan. I did some things that were totally opposite of my sensibility, and such things were indeed happening. But I did them anyway.”

However, it wasn’t to get money in order to maintain a lifestyle, as the actor makes clear: “Meri demands kitni hi hai? Watch, ring, I don’t wear anything. Iss laayak baniye ki paisa aapke peechhe aaye. Jo kaabil log hote hain, apni field mein master, voh chaahe ghar pe baith jaayein, log unko bulaane aa jaayenge. Talent is appreciated in this world.”