Nawazuddin Siddiqui is an acclaimed Indian actor who gained prominence in the Indian film industry with huge critical acclamations and a number of awards for his movies. His breakthrough role was with Anurag Kashyap`s "Black Friday" (2007) which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and was a nominee for the Best Film (Golden Leopard) award at the Locarno Film Festival.
Early Life of Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Nawazuddin Siddiqui was born to a Muslim family in a small town of Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh, on 19th May 1974. His father is a farmer and he has nine siblings including two sisters and seven brothers. He completed his graduation in science from Gurukul Kangri University in Haridwar. Afterwards, for some time, he worked in a petrochemical company as a chemist. However, he soon moved to Delhi where he began working as a watchman at an office. Meanwhile he also developed a keen interest in watching plays. Later in the year 1996, Nawazuddin graduated from the National School of Drama (NSD) New Delhi.
Career of Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Nawazuddin Siddiqui moved to Mumbai after graduating from National School of Drama for pursuing a career in the world of acting. His initial phase of acting career included much struggle and the year 2004 can be marked as the worst period when he was unable to pay even the rent. He requested and shared the apartment of a National School of Drama senior on condition of cooking meals for his senior. He got his first break in Bollywood in the year 1999 when he played a small role in the movie "Sarfarosh". In the next few movies, he got only stereotypical and minor roles and could not make his presence felt in the film industry. His struggles continued for the next few years when he was in severe financial crunch. He played the role of a waiter in the movie "Shool", a pickpocket in the movie Salaakhen and a cutpurse in "Munna Bhai M.B.B.S". During the years of his struggle he also tried to get work in television serials but in vain. In 2003 he appeared in a short film The "Bypass" along with Irrfan Khan. Between the years 2002-05 Nawazuddin did not have any work and earned his living through conducting occasional acting workshops.
Film career of Nawazuddin Siddiqui gained pace with Anurag Kashyap`s movie "Black Friday" in 2004. The movie also gave him recognition as a powerful actor having immense potential. His next movie was Prashant Bhargava`s "Patang" where he was featured in a lead role. The movie was premiered at the Berlin Film Festival and Tribeca Film Festival and the actor earned praises by world renowned film critic Roger Ebert for his spectacular performance. The movie also proved to be milestone in his career as it transformed his acting style greatly. He was starred in a cameo role in the year 2009 in the movie "Dev D". His next movie was the movie "New York". In 2010, Aamir Khan Productions`s movie "Peepli Live" gave further prominence to the actor which was followed by Tigmanshu Dhulia`s "Paan Singh Tomar" in the same year. His next ventures included "Kahaani", "Gangs of Wasseypur", "Miss Lovely" and the sequel of "Gangs of Wasseypur" which augmented his fame further. He also appeared in a horror movie "Aatma", Aamir Khan`s 2012 release "Talash", "Bombay Talkies" and "Shorts". In 2015, Siddiqui`s films "Bajrangi Bhaijaan" and "Manjhi - The Mountain Man" were released, and he was praised for his roles. Siddiqui appeared in a film based in Gujarat, titled "Haraamkhor".
Filmography of Nawazuddin Siddiqui
Following are the films done by Nawazuddin Siddiqui:
| Movie | Year |
| Sarfarosh | 1999 |
| Black Friday | 2004 |
| Firaaq | 2009 |
| New York | 2009 |
| Dev D | 2009 |
| Peepli Live | 2010 |
| Paan Singh Tomar | 2012 |
| Kahaani | 2012 |
| Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 1 | 2012 |
| Gangs of Wasseypur - Part 2 | 2012 |
| Chittagong | 2012 |
| Talaash | 2012 |
| Dekh Indian Circus | 2012 |
| Patang | 2012 |
| Miss Lovely | 2012 |
| Aatma | 2013 |
| Bombay Talkies | 2013 |
| Shorts | 2013 |
| Liar`s Dice | 2013 |
| Monsoon Shootout | 2013 |
| The Lunchbox | 2013 |
| Anwar Ka Ajab Kissa | 2013 |
| Kick | 2014 |
| Badlapur | 2015 |
| Bajrangi Bhaijaan | 2015 |
| Manjhi - The Mountain Man | 2015 |
| Raman Raghav 2.0 | 2016 |
| Te3n | 2016 |
| Lion | 2016 |
| Freaky Ali | 2016 |
| Haraamkhor | 2017 |
| Raees | 2017 |
| In Defence of Freedom | 2017 |
| Jagga Jasoos | 2017 |
| Mom | 2017 |
| Munna Michael | 2017 |
| Babumoshai Bandookbaaz | 2017 |
| Carbon | 2017 |
He also appeared in two television serials Sacred Games in 2017 and McMafia in 2018.