Nawazuddin Siddiqui almost fell off a boat while filming for Saindhav with Venkatesh: ‘They kept the shot in the film’

Nawazuddin will debut in Telugu with Sailesh Kolanu’s Saindhav and he opened up about shooting for the film at a press meet.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui will soon debut in Telugu in Sailesh Kolanu’s Saindhav, which releases on January 13, right on time for Sankranthi. He plays Vikas Malik, a businessman who’s borderline unhinged if the trailer is anything to go by. In a press interaction in Hyderabad, the actor spoke about working with Venkatesh in the Shraddha Srinath, Ruhani Sharma and Andrea Jeremiah co-starrer, learning Telugu and more. Excerpts. (Also Read: Saindhav director Sailesh Kolanu reacts to viral meme)

Playing the villain

Nawazuddin Siddiqui in a still from Saindhav

Nawazuddin says that he has played “almost all kinds of roles” at this stage of his career, but his role in Saindhav excited him. “I’ve never seen roles in terms of heroes or villains. A good role that excites me is all that matters,” he says, adding, “In fact, sometimes the negative roles give you much more scope to perform than the supposedly good ones do. Sailesh has penned one such role for me.” But the actor admits there’s one dream role he would love to essay someday. “If I get the opportunity, I’ll play Osho in his biopic,” he says.

Learning Telugu

Telugu is an alien language for Nawazuddin, but the actor says he was insistent on dubbing for himself in Saindhav. “It doesn’t sound good otherwise when someone else dubs for you,” he explains. Luckily, his character is a Hyderabadi, he adds. “He speaks both Hindi and Telugu, so I was fine. Learning a new language is always difficult but I don’t believe in prompters. So even on sets, I would learn my lines beforehand so it looked good on-screen. I believe all this hard work will pay off,” he says.

Ask him about Venkatesh and he’s candid in his praise for the star. “There’s a lot to learn from him, it was a good experience to shoot with him,” he says. He even reveals that Venkatesh worked hard in the action sequences. “He did all of them without a dupe. You’ll see a whole new side of him in the film,” he says, adding, “While I believe there’s a lot to learn from him. I observed that he has a lot of patience. It’s something I wish to learn from him.”

Shooting in Sri Lanka

When asked if he has any memorable moments from the shoot, Nawazuddin cracks up. “We were shooting in Sri Lanka and I almost fell off a boat,” he chuckles, adding, “A massive wave came our way and almost toppled me…I flew off the boat. I was lucky to land on the boat again instead of the ocean.” The best part, he says, is that they got it all on camera. “They kept the shot in the film. I bet the audience will love it!” he rounds off.

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