{"id":287194,"date":"2025-04-22T00:09:24","date_gmt":"2025-04-22T00:09:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/22\/swnanand-kirkire-blames-nepotism-for-nawazuddin-siddiquis-late-breakthrough-his-acting-abilities-were-doubted-because-he-wasnt-conventionally-good-looking\/"},"modified":"2025-04-22T00:09:24","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T00:09:24","slug":"swnanand-kirkire-blames-nepotism-for-nawazuddin-siddiquis-late-breakthrough-his-acting-abilities-were-doubted-because-he-wasnt-conventionally-good-looking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/22\/swnanand-kirkire-blames-nepotism-for-nawazuddin-siddiquis-late-breakthrough-his-acting-abilities-were-doubted-because-he-wasnt-conventionally-good-looking\/","title":{"rendered":"Swnanand Kirkire blames nepotism for Nawazuddin Siddiqui\u2019s late breakthrough: \u2018His acting abilities were doubted because he wasn\u2019t conventionally good-looking\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Nawazuddin Siddiqui made his debut as a lead actor in Anurag Kashyap\u2019s 2012 cult crime epic Gangs of Wasseypur \u2013 Part 2, and there was no looking back. However, he spent 13 years playing small roles in major films before his breakthrough.<\/p>\n

His batchmate from National School of Drama, actor-lyricist-singer Swanand Kirkire, reasoned why it took so long for the Hindi film industry to accept Nawazuddin in a lead role. \u201cNeither theatre actors nor theatre actresses are conventionally good looking. There\u2019s only one Anurag Kashyap who\u2019d make Nawazuddin the hero, otherwise who would? He gave Nawaz a big enough role that the film rested on his shoulders. People love Nawaz so much now because a few believed in him. Otherwise we\u2019ve all seen the Nawaz pre-Gangs of Wasseypur. People have doubted him and asked, \u2018How will he act?\u2019 There\u2019s been so much cruelty against him,\u201d said Swanand.<\/p>\n

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In the interview with The Lallantop, Swanand Kirkire said all issues like these boil down to the root cause of nepotism. \u201cYe cinema ke log, ye cinema ke bachche, aur ye non-cinema ke bachche (there are people of cinema, children of cinema, and children of non-cinema),\u201d pointed out Swanand, adding that nepotism is pervasive. \u201cEven in Indian classical music, the guru has always discriminated between his disciple and his children. The same discrimination exists even in advocacy with lawyers,\u201d said Swanand.<\/p>\n

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Also Read | \u00a0\u2018Heartbroken\u2019 Nawazuddin Siddiqui cried bitterly after Kamal Haasan cut his role in Hey Ram; Hema Malini rejected Esha Deol\u2019s casting<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Nawazuddin Siddiqui began his acting career with a small part in John Matthew Mathan\u2019s 1999 cop drama Sarfarosh alongside Aamir Khan<\/a>. He followed it up with brief appearances in Ram Gopal Varma\u2019s 1999 crime drama Shool, Rajkumar Hirani\u2019s 2003 blockbuster gangster comedy Munna Bhai MBBS, Anurag Kashyap\u2019s 2007 crime drama Black Friday, Kabir Khan\u2019s 2009 thriller New York, Anurag\u2019s 2009 romantic film Dev. D, Anusha Rizvi\u2019s 2010 satire Peepli Live, Sujoy Ghosh\u2019s 2011 thriller Kahaani, and Tigmanshu Dhulia\u2019s 2012 sports drama Paan Singh Tomar.<\/p>\n

After his breakthrough with Gangs of Wasseypur<\/a>: Part 2, Nawazuddin has led films like Ketan Mehta\u2019s Manjhi \u2013 The Mountain Man (2015), Anurag\u2019s Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016), Sohail Khan\u2019s Freaky Ali (2016), Shlok Sharma\u2019s Haraamkhor (2017), Babumoshai Bandookbaaz (2017), Nandita Das\u2019 Manto (2018), Thackeray (2019), Ritesh Batra\u2019s Photograph (2019), Tannishtha Chatterjee\u2019s Roam Rome Mein (2019), Motichoor Chaknachoor (2019), Ghoomketu (2020), Honey Trehan\u2019s Raat Akeli Hai (2020), Sudhir Mishra\u2019s Serious Men (2020), No Land\u2019s Man (2021), Sudhir Mishra\u2019s Afwaah (2023), Jogira Sara Ra Ra (2023), Tiku Weds Sheru (2023), Haddi (2023), Rautu Ka Raaz (2024), and Adbhut (2024). He\u2019s also headlined two seasons of Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane\u2019s Netflix India Original show Sacred Games. Nawazuddin will be next seen in the lead role in the film Costao, which will drop on ZEE5 on May 1.<\/p>\n

Also Read<\/strong> | \u2018Nawazuddin Siddiqui was carrying Rajpal Yadav\u2019s suitcase\u2019: Anurag Kashyap recalls actor told him \u2018I don\u2019t have money to eat\u2019<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

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In the interview, Swanand also admitted that there are more male actors from NSD who\u2019ve grabbed lead roles than their female counterparts. Case in point: Naseeruddin Shah<\/a>, Om Puri, Pankaj Kapur, and Irrfan<\/a> Khan. \u201cIn my time, 16-18-year old girls were made actors. An NSD graduate has to study for three years, do theatre, and then consider moving to Mumbai<\/a>. By that time, they miss the criteria that the industry has set,\u201d said Swanand. He cited Rasika Dugal, Anjali Patil, and Monika Pawar as great products of NSD in the film industry.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n