Nawazuddin Siddiqui Exclusive Interview: 'It's boring being happy all the time'

Nawazuddin Siddiqui has a special knack for making every character deeper than it was written to be. He is impossibly grounded, convincingly original and immensely talented. He knows how to make you laugh in the most serious scenes and to make you cry with a smile on his face. With an enviable filmography and an equally reputable career on OTT, Nawazuddin Siddiqui likes living on the edge – both in his characters on screen and in real life. With a life motto “There’s no fun without a little drama”, Nawazuddin reveals he would have been a monk if not an actor.

Excerpts from my chat with the compulsively reticent actor who we can’t stop adoring enough:

Q: Even after so many years of selecting massively distinctive roles, how do you pick scripts?

Nawaz: It depends on a lot of things. I could do a project for money but I should have an interesting role in the film. I won’t do just about anything. I like doing simple films but with characters that are weird and absurd. I don't like to play linear roles.

Heroes usually get one-dimensional roles. A film usually portrays a hero that is too good to be true. I like those roles but they don’t excite me. I like playing characters that are ‘real’, that are closer to humanity, and that have flaws. Human beings are usually flawed. They have their good and bad. I like playing those roles.

Q: With the level of fame you’ve achieved and the career you have built, do you think the 20-year-old Nawaz who was dreaming of all this, would be happy and proud?

Nawaz: Yes, of course, but I have never been sad. Even when I was struggling and looking for work, doing comparatively smaller roles, I was happy. It’s not in my nature to get sad if I get less in life or to go over the top with excitement on getting more from life. I have always been a balanced person in life. I have always had a mild reaction to things in life.

People have their ups and downs. We’re all dealing with good and bad in life. And that is life. What would life be without some drama? If you are happy all the time, that would also become boring.

Q: How do you like to unwind when you’re not acting?

Nawaz: I am busier when I am not acting. You have to listen to a lot of narration and stories. There is a lot of commotion during that period in my house. I have more time at hand when I am shooting outdoors. Like when we were shooting for Rautu Ka Raaz, there were times when other actors had to film and I had some free time at hand. So I would enjoy nature and just be in the moment. I love that free time when I am on shoots.

This is why I love being on shoots all the more so that I can enjoy my free time. That’s not to say that I don’t love filming. I love that too but I enjoy doing things I can’t do otherwise, in that free time.

Q: What is your idea of enjoyment?

Nawaz: (Laughs…) If I tell you, you will think I am a very boring person but I love sitting idly, being with myself and doing nothing. I love to listen to nature, wind, birds, those things that we can't enjoy in cities. If you leave me in a desert island alone and tell me you’ll give me minimal food to survive with, I can happily live there. I am that kind of a person. That’s how I am.

If I didn't act, I would have been a monk somewhere. I tried becoming a monk once. I went to the Dalai Lama’s ashram in Dharamshala for 15 days. I am a person who can be happy with very fewthings in life.

Watch The Full Interview Here: