Nawazuddin Siddiqui: After a series of bad choices, Faizal badla lega kya?

Nawaz unabashedly accepted his unconventional looks, and acknowledged their limitations, but at the same time embraced the endless exciting possibilities they offered. He wasn’t just riding the wave of change in Hindi cinema; he was driving it. Alongside filmmakers like Anurag Kashyap and following in the footsteps of legends like Manoj Bajpayee and Irrfan Khan, Nawazuddin proved that nuanced performances could outshine traditional looks. He made the unconventional mainstream, prompting actors like Sonam Kapoor to complain about the shift, only to eventually get trolled for it.

Yet, the actor didn’t shower content-driven cinema with unreserved praise. He aptly pointed out the hypocrisy of filmmakers who were taking formulaic approaches towards it. Despite this, he remained hopeful that after being exposed to world cinema during the lockdown, audiences would demand better films and unique characters. His prediction was spot on, as fans did start expecting more from him. But ironically, Nawazuddin found it tough to live up to these higher expectations in his subsequent projects.

After Serious Men, his film choices became, for lack of a better word, weird. While he blamed Bollywood stars for the ‘hero’ syndrome, he chose bigger roles over better stories. His role in Tiger Shroff’s dreadful Heropanti 2 doesn’t even merit a discussion as it was clearly a cash grab.

In a PTI interview in 2022, Nawazuddin Siddiqui explained his philosophy behind doing a Bollywood potboiler despite it being far removed from his brand of films. He said, “If these big films earn money, my smaller films will get made because money is always rolling. Commercial films attract a huge audience.” The intent was good, but did Nawaz forget his own prophecy? This was the post-pandemic audience, and they demanded ‘actors’ instead of ‘stars’ and sincere stories instead of a few outrageous scenes stitched together. As predicted, Heropanti 2 tanked at the box office, minting a little over Rs 35 crore against the budget of Rs 70 crore.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a still from Heropanti 2.

He returned to his home turf, playing an NRI in Bhumi Pednekar’s Afwah. The performance, and by extension the whole film, was adequate but not extraordinary. Still, what worried his fans was his attempt at comedy with Jogira Sara Ra Ra. Don’t get me wrong—I know he can do comedy. Remember his brilliant portrayal of Aslam Shaikh in The Lunchbox? But mindless comedies aren’t Nawazuddin’s cup of tea. He shines in more wry humour, and Jogira Sara Ra Ra was the opposite of his strengths as an actor.

The icing on this distasteful cake was his portrayal of a struggling actor in Tiku Weds Sheru. You’d think Nawaz could draw from his real-life experiences to add some depth to the role, right? But the movie’s abysmal plot—an older guy marrying a much younger girl—didn’t give him scope to shine, leaving the audience in secondhand embarrassment.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a still from Tiku Weds Sheru.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui redeemed himself with Haddi, where he played a wronged transgender seeking revenge. It was remarkable to see him ace the feminine gait and all the mannerisms of a transgender character. But the film’s meandering plot and its focus on effect didn’t do justice to his efforts for the film.

Actors like Nawazuddin are both perceptive and persevering. After the disaster of Tiku Weds Sheru, he admitted his wrong film choices. “I don’t know what will happen in 2024. But yes, I will be very careful when choosing my scripts. I will choose the scripts wisely now, as some experiments did not go as planned for me,” he told IANS.

While we wait for Nawaz to return to form, Ganesh Gaitonde’s famous dialogue comes to mind: “Jab tak ye khel khatam nai hoga apun idhar ich hai (I am here until this game ends).”