Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui recently opened up about his personal and professional life on a television show, hosted by Kishore Ajwani on 'Kehke Rahega Kehne Wala'. He explained that he never compromises on his craft while doing commercial films, even though his deep passion for acting has genuinely cost him something in his personal life.
He calls commercial cinema a serious form of acting too
During the conversation, when Kishore Ajwani asked Nawazuddin Siddiqui whether he compromises on his acting whenever he does commercial films, his answer left no room for doubt. He said, "I don't compromise at all. Whatever commercial cinema we do, that too is a form of acting." He went on to explain that folk theatre, traditional plays, Sanskrit plays and Parsi plays are all different forms of acting, and that an actor must be ready to embrace every one of them. According to him, he does not view commercial films as a lesser kind of acting. He pointed out that these very musical commercial films are what define Bollywood's identity, and argued that commercial cinema too deserves to be treated as a legitimate acting form.
Family became the real price of his passion
Nawazuddin Siddiqui admitted that his attachment to acting runs so deep that it has come at a personal cost. He did not speak directly about the trade-off between family and career, but he made his feelings clear all the same. He said, "I can't put it into words, but my heart knows. It's something very personal. You do have to pay a price." He said he used to feel he wasn't capable of giving his full attention to both family and acting at once, believing that only by dedicating enough time to his craft would he become worthy of it.
It took him a long time to make space for family
Siddiqui said acting is a discipline that has to be practised throughout one's life, but he never considered himself particularly intelligent. He said, "I felt that because I'm a foolish person, I needed more time for this." According to him, a smarter person might have managed to be a good actor, a good brother, a good father, a good husband, a good friend and a good son all at once, but he does not count himself among them. He openly admitted that it took him a very long time to give his family the time it deserved, calling it the biggest personal price of his passion for acting.
