National Award winning actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui, who easily slips into roles in the indie and commercial cinema space, said Indian filmmakers need to emphasise on the importance of realistic movies. He says without them, Indian films cannot make a mark globally.

Nawazuddin's latest release is "Haaramkhor", in which he plays Shyam, a teacher who develops a romantic relationship with his student, played by Shweta Tripathi.

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Talking about such cinema, Nawazuddin told IANS over phone: "We have to make such realistic films or world cinema won't take us seriously. Internationally, our films are known for dance, drama, music and that, they (global audiences) take lightly. How long will we keep making films where hero-heroine is dancing around trees?"

The theme of "Haraamkhor" is not one touched upon by several filmmakers.

Sharing the challenges of playing the character of Shyam, Nawazuddin said: "Well, though I have no similarity with the character, but I understand his emotion. I have seen many teachers in real life, which come from the same background and morality and treat their profession like just another one, rather than a noble profession.

"So while acting, I incorporated such real life experiences to execute the character."

While his character in "Haraamkhor" has traces of negative shades, he also played antagonist in "Raman Raghav 2.0".

Talking about the projection of negative characters, Nawazuddin said: "There is nothing called negative character. The negativity and positivity exists in all of us. In addition, if you are talking about 'Raman Raghav 2.0', that was a real life character.

"So we have to understand and accept that such people exist in our society."

He added: "If you look at the end, they suffer, which is a clear indication that if you are wrong, you will be punished. However, I see no reason not to show such real characters in films, as that is the way to create awareness among the audience. Like the way we get to know about the society of Korea, Iran and other countries through their films, people will get to know about our country. Our films are a mirror of our society."