Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s father was disappointed with his choice of roles, told him ‘not to come home as it embarrassed family’

Nawazuddin Siddiqui had once revealed his father’s disappointment at his blink-and-miss roles during initial years of his career.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui is a perfect example of a rags-to-riches story as he rose from being a struggling farmer to a much in demand actor with several critically acclaimed performances to boast about. The actor has an inspiring tale of how determination, persistence and talent never go unrewarded as it took 12 years of struggle for Nawazuddin to bag a lead role, which he could proudly brag about to his father.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui at Umang 2020, a Mumbai Police Welfare Fund's Initiative, at BKC, Mumbai.(PTI)

Nawazuddin did every tiny role that came his way and was seen in blink-and-miss roles like that of a pickpocketer in Munnabhai MBBS(2003), a terror suspect in Sarfarosh (1999) and many others like Black Friday (2007) and Ek Chalis Ki Last Local (2007).

Sharing his late father’s disappointment with his choice of work, the actor had told Cinestaan in an interview, “My father used to get upset when I did small roles. He used to say, ‘why do you do these small roles where you get bashed up. Please don’t come here, it’s embarrassing for the family. Neighbours say that your son is getting hammered’. He felt I was beaten for real, but he was fine upon learning that it’s only drama. He asked me to stop doing such roles.”

Finally, when the actor got a lead role in Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs of Wasseypur, he went to his father and told him, “why don’t you watch my film now?” He, however, did not face any disapproval from his father about his career choice.

Nawazuddin had once shared how he would borrow money to make ends meet during his initial days in Mumbai. He had told said in a post on Humans of Bombay Instagram account, “I would borrow money from my friends, saying I’d return them in 2 days. Two days later I would borrow money from someone else and pay the first person back. I lived in a flat with four other people – it was about survival. I worked odd jobs – sometimes as a watchman, sometimes selling coriander. I even held acting workshops! I must have gone for a 100 auditions and took up every single role that came my way, no matter how small it was. It took 12 years before I got a ‘breakthrough’. It wasn’t easy – the struggle was not beautiful, it was just that; a struggle.”

The actor was the eldest of the nine siblings and confessed stealing diyas with friends during Diwali in his village.

Follow @htshowbiz for more