When Nawazuddin Siddiqui caught the acting bug: Actor reveals he'd often text himself 'call me, Subhash Ghai'

Nawazuddin Siddiqui spoke about an incident when to change his mood he messaged himself, pretending it to be from Subhash Ghai. He said he did this after coming to Mumbai.

Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui has recalled the time in his life when to perk up his mood he would message himself on his pager pretending it to be from film director Subhash Ghai. In a new interview, he said that he did this and even showed others after he went to Mumbai to follow his dreams.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui took a trip down memory lane.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui made his Bollywood debut with Patang. He then went on o feature in many films including Peepli Live, Kahaani, Gangs of Wasseypur, The Lunchbox, Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Manjhi - The Mountain Man, Raman Raghav 2.0, Manto among others. He was also seen in the Netflix series Sacred Games.

In an interview with Bazaar India, Nawazuddin said, "I didn’t start off wanting to be an actor. I wanted to go into the mountains after completing my education and become a monk. I even visited Dharamshala for a few days… It was only after someone took me to watch a play during my graduation that I become fascinated with acting…"

He added, "I had worked as a watchman and as a chemist, but realised that the 9-to-5 life wasn’t for me. So I moved to Mumbai to pursue my dreams, but there wasn’t much work to speak of. On days when I needed to perk up my mood, I’d message myself on my pager saying, ‘Call me, Subhash Ghai’. I’d even show it to others to amuse my heart!”

Nawazuddin was seen recently in the Netflix film Serious Men. It was a satirical drama film based on Manu Joseph's book of the same name. He has several projects in the pipeline including Jogira Sara Ra Ra and Heropanti 2, Tiku Weds Sheru, Adbhut, and Sangeen.

Tiku weds Sheru, a comedy is being produced by actor Kangana Ranaut under her production house, Manikarnika Films. In the film, Nawazuddin will feature as Sheru and Avneet Kaur as Tiku.