With stars in her eyes

Actor Elnaaz dreams of a bright future in Bollywood

Sacred Games and Hello Charlie girl Elnaaz Nourozi’s first brush with a Bollywood star was when she was shooting with Salman Khan for a cola commercial. She had not yet become a movie actor, was nervous and very excited. So much so that she cut her hand during the process!

“It was a great moment for me as I was new in the field and got to work with a star like him for a cola commercial. So, while I was coming out of my vanity van to have dinner I banged the heavy door hard on my hand and cut it. It was bleeding, but then everyone found it very funny. Even Salman Sir was very amused. After dinner, we resumed shooting and I remember one shot when I am holding my hand. My team still reminds me of it and it still makes me smile,” says Elnaaz.

The actress is now Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

“Nawaz Sir is an amazing performer. I worked with him in the film Sangeen and I had the best time of my life because it was such a dream role for me and I got to work with him,” she says, adding, “The role I have in Sangeen is so good that there are actors who work for many years and still do not get roles like that.”

Elnaaz related an anecdote from the sets - “He (Nawaz) kept telling me not to address him as ‘Sir’ but then he is such a senior actor that I had to call him ‘Sir’. And every time I would do that, he would look at me weirdly. He really hated me for calling him that,” she chuckles. The actress is now awaiting a new series to begin streaming. “I cannot talk about it much, but it is from Maddock Films and children under 16 cannot watch it. But it is a heavy performance-oriented role,” she says, adding that some announcements about other projects would be made soon.

Elnaaz says she’s getting more work because she’s doing auditions, and not on the strength of previous performances. “Despite having done Sacred Games, I had to audition for Hello Charlie with Excel Entertainment and it feels good when you get a role after an audition,” says the actress who is happy with her progress so far.

Talking about her hopes for the future, Elnaaz says, “I have not got a woman-oriented film thus far, and I am waiting for one. My dream is also to do a proper action film where I get to do a lot of martial art and action.”

Fingers crossed!

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Nawaz Sir is an amazing performer. I worked with him in the film Sangeen and I had the best time of my life because it was such a dream role for me and I got to work with him,

— ELNAAZ NOUROZI, actor.