Touch It singer wishes to connect with Indian musicians
The actor says it’s great that talent is being noticed and exposed globally due to OTT platforms
A ctor Nawazuddin Siddiqui is no stranger to international acclaim, but getting an International Emmy nomination in the Best Performance by an Actor category for filmmaker Sudhir Mishra’s digitally released Serious Men (2020), is a sweet surprise for him. The actor will compete with Christian Tappan (The Great Heist, 2020), David Tennant (Des, 2020) and Roy Nik (Normal, 2020 ).
“Of course, it feels good when you get such a nomination. Apart from making you feel happy, it also gives you a lot of confidence that the choices you are making are correct. It reaffirms that I am on the right path in my career,” shares Siddiqui.
The film is an adaptation of Manu Joseph’s novel and sees Siddiqui play Ayyan Mani, a Dalit personal assistant, who passes off his son as a genius. “There are many reasons why I said yes to the film. First, it was a Manu Joseph novel, which
Gmeant that the characters are strong in terms of inner world, conflict, characteristics, habits and angst. I like such grey characters,” he says.
Another reason for him was the opportunity to collaborate with Mishra. “I always wanted to work with him. Woh bahut kaabil director hain. I wasn’t prepared at all when I started working on the film. I surrendered myself to Sudhir saab and whatever I am getting from this character is because of him,” the 47year-old explains.
This is not his first tryst with the International Emmys. In 2019, Siddiqui’s British web series, McMafia (2018) won the Best Drama Series title. Sharing his thoughts on what an honour like this does to an actor’s career, he explains, “Our country has a lot of talent and the way it’s being exposed globally, thanks to the OTT platforms, is commendable. I hope that this continues and more of such content keeps coming forth. May we keep pushing the boundaries. What makes me the happiest is that talent is finally getting noticed.” hanaian singer KiDi’s latest track, Touch It, has become viral on social media. It has garnered millions of views on Tik Tok and has been made into Instagram reels, with even celebrities engaging in dance challenges. Happy with the response that the track has received, KiDi tells us, “I’ve seen the views, the reels and the dance challenges... When I go to sleep at night, I have a big smile on my face. I may even be smiling in my dreams (laughs). I’m excited and grateful for it.” The singer further adds, “I prayed for the song to do well, but what’s Singer happening now is something that I didn’t expect. Everybody in the world is dancing to my song and it’s an amazing feeling.”
KiDi is happy to have put Ghanaian music on the global map with Touch It: “I would love it if people from every part of the world dance to our music. A lot of things are involved in making a song successful, other than talent. There’s behind-the-scene engineering involved as well. If that’s done right, it will help Ghanaian music reach far and wide.”
Having watched Hindi films as a child, KiDi shares that he would love to perform in India. “Growing up, I would sit for three hours and watch Hindi films. So, I heard a lot of Hindi songs and I love them. I really wish I knew a couple of Indian records. And when I’m in India, I would love to connect with a few Indian artistes to create magic. I’m looking forward to that,” he ends.