New Delhi : Having struggled for 14 years in Bollywood, actor Nawazzuddin Siddiqui says he is finding it hard to deal with his new found fame post “Kahaani”.
The actor has been on a roll since playing Khan in Sujoy Ghosh's “Kahaani”.
His three films as lead star—Anurag Kashyap's two-part drama ‘Gangs of Wasseypur' and ‘Miss Lovely' were screened at Cannes recently.
Siddiqui has nine films including Kashyap's ambitious ‘Wasseypur' and ‘Dekh Indian Circus' in the pipeline.
While he is happy with all the attention and success, it has started bothering him a little.
“I am comfortable with the attention and adulation that has come my way since ‘Kahaani' but everything is happening so fast. Somehow now all this has started bothering me.
Everyone has started talking about how I will do in next film, whether my performance would be as good as my earlier films.
“There is pressure and I don't like it. For me work and fame are two different departments and one should not encroach upon the the territory of the other,” Nawazuddin said.
Siddiqui faced rejection and was told time and again to ditch his acting dream because of his average looks but the actor slowly made his way to the front with powerful performances in films like “Peepli Live”, “Paan Singh Tomar” and “Kahaani”.
He is well aware of the fickle nature of fame and does not want to lose his focus from acting. “Fame is temporary. I may be the talking point now, but that might not be the case forever.
I don't want all this to get into my head because that will affect my performance and if it ever does, I will feel very guilty. I just want to focus right now and do even better than my previous films.”
The NSD graduate recently bagged the best actor award at 12th annual New York Indian Film Festival for “Dekh Indian Circus”.
Directed by National-Award-winning filmmaker Mangesh Hadawale, the film also received the audience choice award at the Busan International Film Festival.
The film highlights the problems faced by a family staying in a village in Rajasthan and the aspirations of rural India.
“I play a mute character. I don't have a single dialogue in the film and it was challenging for me. But the character emotes so much that not for once one would feel the need of any dialogue. I am playing a villager from Rajasthan.
Though the film belongs to the niche genre, the audience will enjoy it like a commercial cinema,” the actor said. The film also stars actress Tannishtha Chatterjee, who was named the best actress at NYIFF for the film.
Nawazuddin is a busy man as nine of his films are lined up for release this year, including Aamir Khan starrer “Talaash”, in which he has the second most important part.
The actor will begin shooting for Shlok Sharma's debut film in Gujarat from June 10.
