Nawazuddin Siddiqui reveals playing a double role in Haddi: 'One of the characters is a full-fledged transgender'

From a walk-on part alongside Aamir Khan in _Sarfarosh_ twenty-three years ago, Nawazuddin Siddiqui has come a long way. Today he is in a position to pick and choose and command the price he wants. Nawaz now chooses to pick the role of a transgender woman, and not just for show. He tells Firstpost in an exclusive interview why doing deviant roles are more important than money and fame.

Nawaz, you have just returned from the first day’s shooting of Haddi where you are dressed up as a woman. Are you in drag? No. I am not. I am playing a transgender. I’ve actually not spoken about this to anyone. For the last one month, I’ve set my phone aside and focused on preparing for this very challenging role in the film called _Haddi_ . And the results are there for all to see. You are unrecognizable. Thank you! Badi mehnat karni padti hai aurat ban ne ke liye (lots of hard work to become a woman). The makeup this morning took three hours. Every shooting day for Haddi I need three hours just to get ready.But it’s a challenge that I need in my career right now. Are you playing an actual transgender or is your character disguised as one? No. Sir. I have a double role in Haddi and one of the characters is a full-fledged transgender. Not like Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie or Kamal Haasan in Chachi 420. I play a real transgender named Haddi. As you grown as an actor do you find challenging roles hard to come by? Do you feel you need to produce your own films to create opportunities? I know what you mean. Many good actors turn producers to create their own opportunities. Lekin mere saath aisa nahin hai (not me). I am getting enough roles to satisfy me as an actor. During the pandemic I completed Kangana Ranaut ’s Tiku Weds Sheru –she is a wonderful hands-on producer, helpful and warm. Then I completed Kushan Nandy’s Jogira Sa Ra Ra and one of my favourite directors Sudhir Mishra’s Afwah. So my hands are full with challenging roles. Haddi seems to be the most challenging of them all It is! I’ve not done anything like this. I knew the director Akshat Sharma from the time he was working with Anurag Kashyap. He had spoken to me about Haddi. Then Zee came on board and everything fell into place. Has the current recession taken its toll on your career? Not at all. I am still doing the work that I want to, avoiding the work that doesn’t excite me. By God’s grace, I have made enough money, so I don’t need to work for money. I can focus fully on job satisfaction. After a point when you have everything, you need money becomes meaningless. You recently built your dream house in Bandra Mumbai. Have you had a chance to enjoy it? Very honestly, I’ve been able to spend no more than twenty days in my dream house, and that too in fractured time, like 4-5 days every time. So I can’t say I’ve had time to enjoy my home. But that’s okay. I am not really a home bird. I just wanted to feel the satisfaction of knowing I have a home in Mumbai to return to after shooting. But you built the house brick-by-brick choosing everything in the house yourself? Yes, that’s true. I applied the aesthetics that I learnt about at the National School Of Drama to build this home. Only three colours have been used in the house: wood colour, sky blue and white. And the entire house’s flooring is done with white marble. There is a house staff just to clean the marble floor every morning. You are living a dream life? I am. I can’t deny it. Everything I always wanted, I’ve got. Subhash K Jha is a Patna-based film critic who has been writing about Bollywood for long enough to know the industry inside out. He tweets at @SubhashK_Jha. Read all the  Latest News ,  Trending News ,  Cricket News ,  Bollywood News ,  India News  and  Entertainment News  here. Follow us on  Facebook,  Twitter and  Instagram