Nawazuddin Siddiqui: ‘Anurag Kashyap once scolded me for imitating Al Pacino’

Nawazuddin Siddiqui is one of the finest actors in Bollywood today. He made his debut with Prashant Bhargava’s Patang, but got prominence after the portrayal of Faizal Khan in Anurag Kashyap’s 2012 film Gangs of Wasseypur.

Also read: Nawazuddin Siddiqui: ‘I will only do lead roles even if I have to fund my own films’ 

Speaking about his experiences of shooting for Gangs of Wasseypur, the actor told Mashable India that during the shooting of the film, he was very inspired by Hollywood legends Robert De Niro and Al Pacino. So much so that Anurag got furious and scolded him for imitating Al Pacino on the very first day of the shoot.

“Anurag scolded me a lot at night. He told me, ‘You’re behaving too much like Al Pacino’. So, I threw the entire façade away overnight, I couldn’t sleep that night. When I went there the morning next day, I went purely as Nawaz,” he added.

Also read: Anurag Kashyap compares streaming platforms to colonisers: 'These will shut down theatres, because theatres are enemies' 

Elaborating further, the actor said that he soon realised that he did not have to imitate a powerful character, but had to be himself and channel that energy for the character. “You don’t get powers just by playing it. For example, Anurag used to say, ‘You have 25 people standing behind you, so you don’t have to play power. Just be normal and you’d look dangerous,” he said.

Gangs of Wasseypur is a 2012 crime thriller film, featuring a talented ensemble cast including Manoj Bajpayee, Zeishan Quadri, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Huma Qureshi and Richa Chadha, among others.

Also read: Anurag Kashyap: When I kept my costs low, nobody could dictate to me what films to make 

Nawazuddin was recently seen in Kangana Ranaut produced Tiku Weds Sheru, alongside Avneet Kaur. Some of the scenes in the movie sparked debates over the age gap between the two leads.

Next, Nawazuddin will be seen in Akshat Ajay Sharma’s much talked-about Haddi. Meanwhile, Anurag is making waves with his new ‘police noir’ film Kennedy that premiered at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival this year. The movie features Rahul Bhat and Sunny Leone as key characters.