Nawazuddin Siddiqui on Emmy nod: It reaffirms that I making the right choices

Actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui is no stranger to international acclaim, but getting an International Emmy nomination is indeed a sweet surprise for him.

The actor has been nominated in the Best Performance by an Actor category for filmmaker Sudhir Mishra’s digitally released Serious Men (2020). Siddiqui will compete with Christian Tappan (The Great Heist), David Tennant (Des) and Roy Nik (Normali) in the category.

“Of course, it feels good when you get a nomination from such a place. It not just makes you feel happy but also gives you a lot of confidence that whatever choices you are making are correct. It reaffirms that I making the right choices and that I am on the right path in my career,” shares Siddiqui.

The film is an adaptation of Manu Joseph’s novel and sees Siddiqui play Ayyan Mani, a Dalit personal assistant who passes off his son as a genius.

“There are many reasons why I said yes to the film. First, it was a Manu Joseph novel and if he has written it that meant that the characters are very strong in terms of inner world, in terms of conflict, characteristics, habits and angst. I like such character, such grayish characters,” he says.

Another reason for him was the opportunity to finally collaborate with Mishra.

“I have always wanted to work with him, woh bahut kaabil director hai. I wasn’t prepared at all when I started working on this film. I surrendered myself to Sudhir Mishra and whatever I am getting from this character is because of Sudhir saab,” the 47-year-old explains.

This is not his fist tryst with the International Emmys. In 2019, Siddiqui’s British web series McMafia (2018) won the Best Drama Series at the International Emmys.

Sharing his thoughts on what an honour like this does to an actor’s career, he says, “Our country has a lot of talent. The way that talent in our country is being exposed globally thanks to all the OTT platforms is commendable. Everyone is getting global recognition. I hope that this continues and I hope that more and more such content keeps coming and we keep pushing the boundaries. What makes me happiest is that talent is getting finally noticed.”