‘Artists shouldn’t stop being creative fearing a backlash’

Nawazuddin Siddiqui feels that a new breed of ultra-sensitive audience is killing creativity. “I am not talking about politics but society it seems has become ultra-sensitive towards everything. It’s scary,” he says.

The 43-year-old, however, feels that artists should not stop expressing themselves fearing a backlash. “Creativity kisi ke baap ki mohtaj nahi hai (creativity isn’t at the mercy of anyone). One can’t dictate a creative soul. A painter will put his or her imagination on canvas, a writer will pen whatever he or she feels strongly about, a scientist will continue to experiment and invent… They won’t and shouldn’t stop in the fear of the society,” he says.

Nawazuddin was reacting to a series of events around films this year — When the Shia community got offended because of a scene in Raees (2017), where actor Shah Rukh Khan was seen jumping over a religious structure, twin attacks on filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s film Padmavati over alleged distortion of facts, a poster of Rajkummar Rao as Lord Shiva in the film Behen Hogi Teri hurting religious sentiments.

Interestingly, Nawaz is portraying the controversial character playwright-author, Saadat Hasan Manto, in his upcoming film. And Nawazuddin says that he won’t be surprised if people raise questions around the film as well. “It’s a fascinating character to play. As an actor, I will take up roles that I am keen on portraying. If I think about the reaction I am going to receive, I will not be able to work. So, I will never do that,” says the actor, who will be seen next in Mom alongside Sridevi, where he plays a dark character.

PHOTO: AMAL KS/HT