Nawazuddin Siddiqui on his upcoming film Main Actor Nahi Hoon and why it's easy to play a struggling actor: ‘I've seen that phase for 14 years'
Nawazuddin Siddiqui may have made his film debut with John Matthew Matthan's 1999 cop thriller Sarfarosh, but he didn't get his breakout role till Anurag Kashyap's gangster epic Gangs of Wasseypur – Part 2 in 2012. Those 14 years of relentless strife are so ingrained in him that playing a struggling actor was a cakewalk for him in Dibakar Banerjee's segment 'Star' in the 2013 anthology Bombay Talkies.
Now, after 12 years of playing the lead in several films across languages and genres, Siddiqui will be seen essaying a struggling actor yet again in Aditya Kripalani's upcoming movie Main Actor Nahi Hoon (I'm Not An Actor). He plays a struggling actor in Germany who becomes an acting coach to a woman in Mumbai over FaceTime.
For an actor worth his salt, playing a struggling one comes easy or tough? ''It's very easy because that phase was very long. I was a struggling actor for 12-15 years. I'm still struggling, though in different ways. But yes, when you have first-hand experience, it becomes quite easy to play a character,' says Siddiqui in an exclusive interview with SCREEN.
'From the very first day, his pitch as a bad actor was just perfect. It wasn't too dramatic or fake. The acting seemed naturally bad. That's the best compliment I can give (laughs),' says Kripalani. For both the actors and the filmmaker, the challenges were more logistical than creative. For instance, it's the first film that's been fully shot in real time over FaceTime across 28 days.
While Siddiqui was shivering in Germany, his co-star Chitrangada Satarpura was sweating in Mumbai. 'Like me, Nawaz comes from a place which isn't too cold. He was in Germany in 2 degrees, so was in quite a bad shape,' points out Kripalani. 'The environment impacts your performance a lot. It was so cold I couldn't even pronounce the 'r' when I had to say English words like process. Also, I had to narrate chunky Shakespeare dialogues in English. Even though I have done Shakespeare plays in Hindi in the past, the English words would just not come out right because of the cold,' says Siddiqui.
The climate difference posed bigger hurdles in the filming process. While Siddiqui would wonder why it's taking so long for the Mumbai crew to go for a retake, Kripalani had to remind him that the camera there has stopped working because of overheating. 'They couldn't empathize with each other because while Chitrangada was getting scorched, she couldn't imagine Nawaz shivering,' says Kripalani.
Another refreshing challenge for Siddiqui was to not be confined by space. He'd film the scene with Chitrangada over FaceTime while walking the streets of Germany or boarding a tram. 'With Nawaz on a tram and Chitra in the local train, we couldn't shoot for 18 minutes without breaks. Although FaceTime is far smoother than other video-calling applications, we all know how the network is so patchy in Mumbai,' reasons Kripalani.
'Plus, to look at each other on video call and emote, I'm sure it wasn't easy,' says Kripalani. Siddiqui agrees that was challenging, but it was part of the world he created for this film. 'There's a belief system an actor works with in every project. In this film, we just believed that we have to talk only on video calls. That became our world, our life,' says Siddiqui.
'We met for the first time on FaceTime itself. We weren't allowed to meet after that, so that's how her character started appearing to me as well. I actually believed she's as irritating as her character. Because other than the takes, we just said 'Hi, hello' to each other on FaceTime,' reveals Siddiqui, adding, 'Chitrangada is a young and formidable actor. So you get aware and are on your toes all the time.'
Kripalani made sure that he conveyed all his directions to the actors through each other. 'Direct direction is quite dumb so I didn't go there. If I had to say something to Nawaz, I'd do that through Chitra and vice-versa. When I used to direct them through each other, their stimulus was quite natural,' explains Kripalani.
Siddiqui also appreciated that the film worked with a very small crew of 10, as opposed to the films he shot for before and after this one, which boasted of a crew strength of 300 to 400. 'I feel if it's a smaller crew, you work better and faster. Otherwise people keep shouting and don't ensure that the actor is given the silence they need. You need to create a conducive atmosphere for a good performance. I'm not Manto who can write in the midst of a crowd,' says Siddiqui, chuckling, since he played the prolific Pakistani writer in Nandita Das' 2018 biopic.
Main Actor Nahi Hoon premiered at the Cinequest Film Festival, which takes place in San Jose, California, right next to the Apple headquarters. 'It was quite serendipitous that someone from Apple was sitting next to us and they realized this has been shot completely on iPhones and other Apple devices. Which is why they decided to help us promote the film,' recalls Kripalani.
But he feels independent cinema otherwise hasn't been able to reach the pre-pandemic level yet. 'We haven't been able to escape the claws of Covid yet. OTT became so dominant in our lives then that we're still struggling to make an independent film that can release in theatres. So it's unfortunately become a monopoly what kind of films will release in theatres,' says Kripalani.
Also Read — After Anurag Kashyap's dig at Netflix CEO, Nawazuddin Siddiqui shows disappointment in streaming platforms: 'Shuruat passion se hoti hai, fir dhandha ban jata hai'
He credits actors like Siddiqui for enabling independent cinema since he didn't charge a single rupee for the film and came onboard as a producer. 'If you have power, then share it and elevate others. If everyone starts doing that, no force can keep us down. But every person just starts hoarding the power instead of using or sharing it here. If more powerful people come to a project only with passion, instead of a commerce point of view, so many new projects can start,' says Kripalani, adding, 'But that's the challenge with this journey: the more you have to lose, the more scared you become.'
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