Nawazuddin Siddiqui sounds relieved when we speak to him and the actor agrees: “Main bilkul relaxed hoon.” Besides the success of his latest release, Haddi, he also saw his legal battle with ex-wife Aaliya reach an amicable stage recently. Aren’t personal battles mentally draining? “Definitely hote hain. Maine iss cheez (split from Aaliya) ke baare mein baat ki hi nahin, aur naa hi karna chahta hoon,” he replies.

It’s difficult to not let one’s troubled personal life affect their work. Ask if he faced a similar situation and the 49-year-old says, “Nahin, it [issues in personal life] didn’t affect my career. Aaj kal log samajhdaar hain, unhe pata hota hai kya chal raha hai [apki life mein]. People still respect me the same way as an actor. In fact, I have become more focused as an artiste.”

Meanwhile, Siddiqui is currently filming for his next film, Section 108, which, he says, “will have a theatrical release”. While Haddi saw him play the role of a transgender and it fetched him good reviews, the actor shares how playing the part wasn’t easy. “It was a difficult character because of the complexity. Character pe kaam karna padh raha tha taaki aisa naa lage ki transgender ka character hai, toh bas costume pehen li aur ho gaya,” he ends.

Mumbai: Filmmaker Sanjay Saha, producer of Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer film Haddi, has been arrested for allegedly duping actor Vivek Oberoi and his company of Rs 1.55 crore between 2022 and 2023. The MIDC police on Sunday arrested Saha, a resident of Veera Desai Road in Andheri, on charges of cheating, forgery, breach of trust and misappropriation of funds.

Police produced Saha before the local court which remanded him to 7 days’ police custody. Police are now look- ing for his wife Radhika Nanda and mother Nandita Saha.

Oberoi has alleged that the accused made the actor invest money in an event and film production firm promising lucrative profits. However, later, the accused used the money for wrongful gains.

The complaint was filed by Oberoi’s manager Deven Bafna, who alleged that in 2017, Oberoi and his wife Priyanka formed an LLP company — Oberoi Mega Entertainment — which sold organic products. Soon, Oberoi was introduced to Saha, who claimed he was part of the film industry and convinced Oberoi to invest in event management.

Together, Oberoi and Saha formed ‘Anandita Entertainment’ in which Saha’s wife Radhika Nanda and his mother Nandita Saha became partners. Police said in 2021, the firm took the responsibility of marketing Nawazuddin’s upcoming film Haddi. As Oberoi was busy with his work, the day-to-day affairs of the firm were looked after by Saha and his wife Radhika.

Oberoi later found out that he had transferred a huge sum of money from Anandita Entertainment without citing any valid reasons. In 2022, when an Anandita Entertainment employee met Oberoi, he informed him that Saha was misappropriating funds.

Oberoi learnt that huge sums were allegedly transferred by Saha for his personal expense, such as Rs 5 lakh for buying Tata AIG life insurance, Rs 10 lakh for Radhika’s salary and buying ornaments. In all, Anandita Entertainment siphoned Rs 58 lakh. Police said the accused also cheated Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

“Saha and Radhika cheated Oberoi of Rs 1.55 crore. We are now looking for two more accused. Saha has already been arrested by the Oshiwara and cyber police in two seperate cheating cases,” said Datta Nalawade, deputy commissioner of police (zone 9).

“This is just the tip of the iceberg as Saha has duped many others,” said Oberoi’s advocates Amar Thakur and Prerak Choudhary.

Filmmaker Onir isn’t happy with the casting and portrayal of the transgender community in projects like Taali and Haddi starring Sushmita Sen and Nawazuddin Siddiqui, respectively. 

“When I saw the trailers, at that moment, I decided I’m not going to be a part of something so problematic, even in terms of watching it,” rues Onir, adding, “This kind of representation of trans people is offensive and even their tone is problematic.”

Going on to emphasize why the members of the trans community should represent themselves in projects, the 54-year-old says, “There are enough trans actors to play trans characters, including actors Sushant Divgikr, Rudrani Chhetri, Trinetra Haldar Gummaraju. Why cast someone else? When a community isn’t authentically represented, (an archetypal image) is shown, it’s not okay. We need queer people represent themselves onscreen.”

Onir also feels that straight people should be more accepting of the LGBTQIA+ community. “The community, which is still learning how to accept us, should not make a film about us. First, they need to educate themselves,” he asserts.

Tempted though he may have been to take on the challenge of playing a transgender person in Haddi, Nawazuddin Siddiqui admits that he was also apprehensive about learning the intricacies that would be required to play the part.

“It was a tough film, as far as the screenplay was concerned. I had the desire to play this part, so I said yes. But I thought about whether or not people would understand the [complexities of] the screenplay,” says the actor, who has been receiving praise for his act in the Akshat Ajay Sharma-directed venture.

Reflecting on the choices he made to play his character authentically, Siddiqui adds, “I was conscious about what not to do—make fun of the community. I had to [comprehend] their soul. We wanted the representation to be accurate and authentic. When we wear a woman’s attire, we start making fun of the get-up. We don’t delve deeper. While we wanted to stay away from stereotypical mannerisms, we didn’t want [the narrative] to be preachy.”

Haddi not only gave Siddiqui an opportunity to play a unique role after fronting a few romantic films but also reunited him with one of his close friends, Anurag Kashyap. This time, however, director Kashyap was his co-star. “I felt he’d correct me at any moment and say, ‘Why are you doing this scene like this? Do it that way’,” he laughs, adding, “Even while he was my co-actor. I felt that the director in him was watching me.” 

For Siddiqui, an Anurag Kashyap offer is one that he will never turn down. “I will work on whatever he demands. He is a genius. I am always hungry to work with such directors. If he calls me, I will run to work with him. I would tell him, ‘Don’t pay me. I will still work with you’.”

In a previous interview, Kashyap had said that while most actors were reluctant to work with him after becoming successful, Siddiqui was among the few whose willingness to collaborate with him has remained unaffected by their popularity. Siddiqui says he doesn’t take his popularity “seriously”.

“I enjoy the process of acting. I am concerned about enhancing my craft. A character gives you something but also takes away a part of you. My life has revolved around this give-and-take relationship with my characters.”

There are two elements that are recurrent in Saurabh Sachdeva’s current cinematic line-up—all of his roles are diverse, and each of his co-stars is a phenomenal talent. After starring in Nawazuddin Siddiqui-led Haddi, he will now be seen in Sujoy Ghosh’s Jaane Jaan, with Kareena Kapoor Khan, and in Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal, which releases in December.

The actor’s cinematic choices, he says, are determined by the diversity of the roles that he is offered. “The decision to be versatile comes from me spending years on [improving] myself as an actor, and my teaching abilities as an acting coach,” says Sachdeva, who wanted to “surprise” viewers with his act as a transgender person in Haddi. “I am happy that I didn’t make a mockery of the character.”

Both Siddiqui and Kapoor are bound by their commitment to the craft, he says. “I have seen many actors, who are great on stage, but, on camera, they freeze. But Nawaz and Ranbir own their space.”

Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub is focused on doing projects that speak to his heart. So, when director Akshat Ajay Sharma approached him for the ZEE5 film, Haddi, and he realized that the film was an opportunity to depict the lives of transgender people, he gave his nod.

The crime drama sees Ayyub’s character, Irfan, as the head of an NGO working for the emancipation of the transgender community. “Besides the story, what caught my eye about Haddi was that the story’s protagonist was a transgender character. The transgender people would be shown in a good light and not made fun of, like how we have done it in the past,” he said, adding that the love story of Harika—Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s character—and Irfan moved him. The intention was to give centre stage to inclusivity through the romance in the film.

“Irfan is a regular guy. To show him falling in love with a transgender person was an ace call. Suddenly, it felt [normalized]. The film speaks of an inclusive society. Just because someone identifies differently doesn’t mean you should remove them from your life,” he explains.

While the verdict on Haddi is yet to come, Ayyub continues to garner compliments for his performance in Hansal Mehta’s Netflix series, Scoop. However, he rues that, despite the appreciation, it has not translated into more work. Only Mehta, with whom he also did Shahid (2013) and Chhalaang (2020), has been putting his money where his mouth is by consistently offering him diverse work.

“He told me that if I get a good script, I should go to him, and he would find me a producer interested in making it with me. People say that I deserve more, [but] they’ve not done anything [about it]. Hansal sir, walked the talk. Post Scoop, industry folk are more respectful to me. Unfortunately, nothing has worked out. Right now, I am not working on anything, but I hope something worthy will come [my way]. People say I should have my own show,” he shares.

Haddi's biggest problem is that it's too confusing. It follows the conventional method of starting the story at mid-point and then depicting the back story. Often, this formula works successfully as it makes viewers intrigued about why the protagonist is behaving in a certain way. In the case of Haddi, viewers will scratch their heads as they try to make sense of what exactly is happening. The worst part is that even after the flashback, certain questions remain unanswered. Lastly, there are too many cinematic liberties. Thankfully, the film has some plus points. It doesn't bore at all, some scenes are well executed and performances are exemplary. Nawazuddin Siddiqui doesn't look convincing beating baddies twice his size. But otherwise, his acting is terrific. Anurag Kashyap is entertaining. Ila Arun, Vipin Sharma and Rajesh Kumar leave a mark. Vipin Sharma does well in a small role. All in all, Haddi is a disappointing film.

Akshat Ajay Sharma describes Nawazuddin Siddiqui, the leading man of his debut film Haddi, as a “master”. The director speaks with a sense of gratitude while recalling his first meeting with the actor, and his faith in him. “He simply told me, ‘Yes.’ During the shoot, he would take three hours each day [to acquire the look],” he says of his film that sees Siddiqui play a transgender person. 

“At the same time, he had to be aware of the emotional aspects of the character. Only a master can do that. He would even improvise lines, like he did for the one in the trailer, ‘Aurat thi, aurat hun, aur aurat rahungi.’ That was the result of his improvisation on a monologue.”

If Siddiqui was the protagonist of his film, Sharma turned to his mentor, Anurag Kashyap, with the offer to play the antagonist. The unpredictable Kashyap, with whom he worked as an assistant director on projects like Sacred Games, AK vs AK, and Manmarziyaan, was the actor he needed to elevate his film.

“I wanted a down-to-earth but ambitious character as the villain. In his mind, even a villain thinks he is always right. So, I needed that innocence to reflect on screen. We could have made him larger-than-life. But it was interesting to explore the insecurities of a villain who is in politics and constantly trying to get money from wherever he can. A guy like that will always be on the edge of his seat.”

A fan of Telugu cinema, Sharma wanted to pay tribute to Pushpa: The Rise actor Allu Arjun with his first film. “The dialogue, ‘Main jhukega nahi’, delivered by Anurag’s character, is an homage [to Arjun]. I am glad people are liking south stars now. I have loved them for a long time.”

Director Akshat Ajay Sharma was willing to wait a year instead of approaching any other actor for Haddi. When he wrote Haddi that revolves around a transgender woman who rises through the ranks to become a feared criminal, he could only imagine Nawazuddin Siddiqui in the titular role. The director’s belief paid off as the actor gave his nod as soon as he read the script.

“Without Nawaz, there is no Haddi. He reads all his scripts. Given his busy schedule, it was a task to get him to sit down with me for three hours. But once he read the script, he said yes immediately,” recalls Sharma.

“He was my only choice for this role. Why do you think I waited a whole year for him and didn’t pitch it to anyone else?”

With Siddiqui coming on board the ZEE5 film, the director knew the biggest hurdle was behind them. The role demanded intense research and prep. While the character’s physical appearance was an aspect that needed attention, the filmmaker was more focused on the emotional graph.

“We had the best people [to handle] the character’s look. With Priyanka [Mundada, costume designer] and Subhash [Shinde, hair, make-up and prosthetics expert], the appearance was never a worry. The task was to dissect the character’s psyche—the sensitivity, the strength, the bond of sisterhood, and the vengeance of someone who had lost everything. I love how Nawaz absorbs everything that a filmmaker desires of him, then he gives that and more.”

The crime drama, also starring Anurag Kashyap as a gangster-turned-politician and Ila Arun, went on floors in Delhi in July 2022. Before facing the camera, Siddiqui spent time with the transgender community in the capital, understanding their psyche, desires and fears.

The actor shares, “I never considered that I was playing the role of a transgender woman. I always thought I was portraying a female character. When I lived with transgender women and talked to them, what came out strongly was their desire to become women. It’s this wish that fuels their personality. So, for me, it was a valuable lesson not to play this role superficially, but to embody a woman’s emotions regardless of my own physicality. The film was shot from a female perspective.”

Nawazuddin Siddiqui was one of the first Indian actors to jump on the streaming business when it started to dominate in India. His role as Ganesh Gaitonde in Sacred Games, which received international acclaim, prompted everyone to sit up and take notice that this medium is here to stay. But then, after some time, came his statement that he wouldn’t work on OTT platforms any more. He felt that the web had become a “dumping ground for redundant shows”.

However, it has recently come to light that as many as eight of the actor’s films are not finding buyers on streamers, and the makers do not want to go the theatrical route. When asked about it, the 48-year-old tells us, “Pata nahin kahaan se yeh issue aaya! Meri kaun si picture ko OTT mana kar raha hai? Mujhe toh pata nahi yeh news kahaan se aayi. Meri films ready nahi hui hain: Haddi is still being shot; I have finished shooting for Afwaah; now it is in the post-production stage, and the work on it will take at least a year or six to seven months. Besides that, dubbing work for all my films is pending, which also includes Jogira Sara Ra Ra. Tiku Weds Sheru will come to a leading OTT platform; I don’t know when, though.”

But where are these rumours coming from, we wonder? Does he have any rivals who might be involved? “Main aisa aadmi hoon jo apna ghar bech ke bhi film banna lunga. They won’t get anything by pulling me down. I am a stubborn person. I will make my own films,” ends the actor.

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)!”

When actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui unveiled the first look of his upcoming, Haddi, this morning, little could anyone have anticipated the avalanche of reactions it would garner. Nawaz’s look is not only being appreciated for a gender-defying makoever, but also for its uncanny, and probably unintentional, resemblance to an everyday television personality synonymous with primetime comedy shows.

Neither by design nor by default, Archana Puran Singh found herself to be at the receiving end of comparisons to Nawaz’s look.

In the official trailer released on Nawazuddin’s Instagram, the actor can be seen sitting in a diva-esque pose in a shimmery low-cut dress as he bleeds from his right hand while resting his bejwelled left hand near his face. Kohl-lined eyes and a bold red lip finish his look. The side-parted hair and the posture led many to believe that it was Archana Puran Singh making another entry into films.

But being the sport that she is, Archana had only nice things to say about the comparisons. “It’s the hairstyle which has become synonymous with me that is causing all these comparisons. I’ve used this side-parted look during the early part of Kapil show (The Kapil Sharma Show),” she replied over a Whatsapp text.

When asked about how she feels about the comparisons, she says, “All I can say is its a huge compliment to be compared to Nawaz in ANY way possible.”

Well, now that’s called taking things in one’s stride.