Nawazuddin Siddiqui looks at lockdown as an opportunity to rediscover himself as an artist

Just like the rest of us, celebrities are also cooped up in their homes. Everyone is keeping themselves busy and entertained by engaging in a variety of activities during the ongoing lockdown period.

National Film Award-winning actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui feels that this free time has given him an opportunity to rediscover himself as an artist and sharpening the nuances of his craft. He adds that one can say that he has gone back to being an acting/cinema student all over again.

“I watch back-to-back movies, at one go, of one particular favourite actor of mine, such as Anthony Hopkins, Daniel Day Lewis, Ricardo Darin and Tony Leung, etc. Then, I move on to another actor’s films. That way, I understand how the same actor must have gone through preparing for such different parts. So, I get a sneak-peek into his mindset and processes,” Nawaz reveals.

He goes on to add that he just cannot sit through time-pass movies. “The idea is to watch tough, path-breaking work. I feel people, especially the younger generation, are also watching that kind of work on OTT platforms. So, after this period, time-pass films may start looking out of place. And accordingly, our filmmakers also have to alter their craft.”

Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who was last seen in Motichoor Chaknachoor (2019), was busy shooting for filmmaker Kushan Nandy’s next film when Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed the lockdown.

When asked if he missing work, Nawaz says, “I’m not because I am a kind of person who adjusts and gets accustomed to different situations. The world is going through an extremely tough situation. This pandemic will give all us a different perspective and a completely new outlook towards everything. And whoever sticks to the same old mindset, will appear odd and outdated.”