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Today as he rides high on the success of Gangs of Wasseypur, particularly part two, he has no hesitation in declaring, "No second leads for me." Sure the first time the actor in him walked into the hearts of audiences was by way of a cameo in Kahaani, which won him accolades from critics too. But he, who has done bit parts in movies like Black Friday, Paan Singh Tomar among others, reasons, "See everything has a time. For one decade, I made compromises and did minuscule roles with complete honesty and dedication. For that’s what came my way and beggars can’t be choosers." No TV, Please!
Training, however, asserts Nawaz as he is fondly called, is as essential for an actor as it is for a dancer or a singer. Only he reminds that the NSD essentially trains you for theatre and cinema is a different ballgame altogether. "To keep your mind open to the winds blowing across continents", he asserts "is a must for an actor who can’t be oblivious to his immediate environment either." He dismisses the suggestion that ‘actors are born and not made.’ Yet strangely, this is a dictum Bollywood abides by thus giving birth to stars and superstars, whose names may change in different films but not their characterisation.
So how did Nawaz an actor first and foremost find his place under the sun? Well, he has been able to get a toehold in Bollywood all thanks to his mentor Anurag Kashyap and Aamir Khan who first gave him a break in Peepli Live and now in Talaash. Besides Talaash, he asks his fans to watch out for his performance in Dekh Indian Circus which is going places and has already won Audience Choice Awards at the 16th Busan Film Festival in South Korea. He promises, "If Faisal of GOW was diametrically different from Khan of Kahani, rest assured I will keep surprising you in future too. Each time, you will encounter a new Nawaz." Won’t play second fiddle
Vowing never to work in mindless cinema, he asserts, "Who cares about joining the 100 crore club. I am not in this race." Competing with the actor in himself, he aims to better his performance each time. At the same time, he won’t play second fiddle anymore. But for Anurag Kashyap, who stood by him in his period of trials and tribulations, he will do anything, including doing a ‘blink and miss’ role. People’s perception of Nawaz might have changed with his succes. But Nawaz, the person, remains the same for people who matter, including those back home in his village Burhana in Uttar Pradesh. Best known for "guns, gehoon and ganna," now his village boasts of ek hai actor Nawazuddin.
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With 35 scripts calling
and nine films including Aamir Khan’s Talaash in the
pipeline, he knows he can afford to be smug. So he is determined to
say no not only to small parts in films but also television. He says,
"Even if TV producers pay me one crore a day, I will not work on
television." Clearly, the wounds of those days of rejection when
he went looking for work on the small screen are still fresh. He
guffaws, "Even for the role of a watchman or a sweeper, TV
producers wanted a fair handsome man." And Bollywood, this NSD
alumnus, tells us couldn’t care less whether you are from the
National School of Drama, or even from the Royal Academy of Dramatic
Arts.
He adds cryptically,
"If B-Town didn’t know who Al Pacino and Robert De Niro were,
and they came looking for work, they would be rejected too. For all,
Bollywood wants is a star not an actor."
Indeed, he agrees that
sustaining success is more difficult than achieving it.