Nawazuddin: I am doing well here! Why should I look for work in Hollywood?
Nawazuddin Siddiqui is one actor who never shies away from speaking his mind. At a time when a number of his contemporaries are working in the West, the actor shows no interest in trying his luck in international projects, unless great offers come his way.
Having worked in a British TV series, Nawazuddin is happy with the opportunities he is getting in India.
“Much like the craze that Pakistani actors have to work in Bollywood, Indian actors, too, want to work in Hollywood. I don’t want to be one of them. Mujhe bhi lalach hai, par achha kaam karne ka… If I’m getting to do good work here in India, why should I look for work in Hollywood?” he asks.
The actor would prefer offers coming his way rather than hunting for work in Hollywood. “To work there, I’ll have to hire an agent and keep monitoring everything . Main sochta hoon ki unko mere paas aana chahiye. If they want to work with me, they will have to approach me,” says the actor, who stars in the second season of Sacred Games.
Nawazuddin’s rendezvous with the web has been successful till date. The actor
is excited about the kind of content that the platform is generating. However, he is worried whether things will stay like this for long.
“Web is definitely creating good content and also experimenting a lot. We are getting to see such fabulous actors. I really enjoyed watching Delhi Crime. The actors in the show were so good,” says Nawazuddin.
But he fears that it could turn out to be a short-lived phase. “Things always begin on an interesting note but then slowly start changing. Web ke liye achcha content ban raha hai par aisa na ho ki yahan bhi log bhed ki chal chalne lagein. For instance, when one film becomes a hit, you see similar films lining up one after the other. I hope web doesn’t become that,” he says.
Talking about the actors versus stars debate, Nawazuddin says that in Hollywood, you have actors who are stars as well, but it’s not a reality in Bollywood yet.
“Hollywood mein doosri baat hai. Yahan aisa hona mushkil hai. Wahan log actor bhi hain aur star bhi. But here, it’s like, ‘yeh star hai, woh actor hai’. Naseeruddin Shah is a fabulous actor, but is he also considered a star? The day a film with a budget of ₹7080 crore is made with an actor, we’ll say that an actor and a star are the same here,” he says.
Much like the craze that Pakistani actors have to work in Bollywood, Indian actors, too, want to work in Hollywood. I don’t want to be one of them.
NAWAZUDDIN SIDDIQUI ACTOR