Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui is celebrating his 48th birthday today. The ‘Serious Men’ and ‘The Lunchbox’ star Nawazuddin Siddiqui will be celebrating his birthday at the Cannes Film Festival for the seventh time. He hails from a small town in Uttar Pradesh and struggled to make his name in the industry.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui made his Bollywood debut in the year 1999 with a small role in Aamir Khan starrer Sarfarosh. The actor rose to prominence with the film Peepli Live in 2010. He also garnered immense praise and international fame with his work in the web series ‘Sacred Games.
Talking about his birthday celebrations, Nawaz, who is a part of the Indian contingent this year at Cannes, said, “Representing India is always special. I have celebrated 6 birthdays here in Cannes as my films were selected but this time as an Indian delegate it makes it more special and memorable.”
As it’s Nawazuddin’s 48th birthday and he is celebrating this day at Cannes for the 7th time, here’s a look at some of the best roles, Iconic dialogue of the versatile actor, and some unknown facts:
1. From his 2012 releases of ‘Miss Lovely’ and ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, then 2013 releases ‘Monsoon Shootout’, ‘The Lunchbox’, ‘Bombay Talkies’ followed by the 2016 release ‘Raman Raghav 2.0’ and 2018 release ‘Manto’ – all have been screened at Cannes Film Festival and coincidently the actor has been present there celebrating his birthday.
2. Nawazuddin was born on 19th May 1974, in Budhana, a small town in Muzaffarnagar district, Uttar Pradesh. He is the eldest of eight siblings.
3. He also appeared in Ram Gopal Varma’s 1999 film ‘Shool’ and the 2000 film ‘Jungle’, as well as Rajkumar Hirani’s ‘Munnabhai MBBS’ (2003).
However, it was not until his stint in ‘Black Friday’ (2007) that filmmakers, as well as the audience, began noticing him as an actor.
Gangs of Wasseypur
The film is a crime-actioner directed by Anurag Kashyap. It is centered on the coal mafia of Dhanbad, and the underlying power struggles, politics, and vengeance between three crime families from 1941 to the mid-1990s.
Bajrangi Bhaijaan
In ‘Bajrangi Bhaijaan’, Nawaz paired up with Salman once again, but this time, instead of being his enemy, he essayed the role of his best friend and his biggest support. The actor played the role of a Pakistani journalist who goes to lengths to help an Indian national, who crosses the border to reunite a little girl with her family.
Thackeray
Nawaz stepped into the shoes of Shiv Sena supremo Balasaheb Thackeray in this biopic. His performance and transformation for the film were lauded by the audience.
Sacred Games
When police officer Sartaj Singh receives an anonymous tip about the location of criminal overlord Ganesh Gaitonde, he embarks on a chase around Mumbai in what becomes a dangerous cat-and-mouse game. While Saif played the role of the cop, Nawaz left the audience spellbound with his performance as the underworld kingpin.
1. Baap ka, dada ka, bhai ka sabka badla lega tera Faizal – The dialogue is from the film Gangs of Wasseypur 2, in which Siddiqui plays the role of Faizal Khan, who is on a mission to kill the people who murdered his brother, father, and grandfather.
2. Meri ammi kehti hai kabhi kabhi galat train bhi sahi jagah pahuncha deti hai – Siddique held his own against Irrfan Khan in the critically acclaimed Lunchbox. The film sees the actor plays the role of Khan’s happy-go-lucky junior.
3. Yeh gun, bin, drugs, property yeh sab chhota dhanda hai. Asli dhanda hai politics – The powerful dialogue is from Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s famous web series Sacred Games.
On the work front, the actor has an interesting lineup of films in his kitty which include ‘Tiku Weds Sheru’, ‘Noorani Chehra’, ‘Adbhut’ and ‘Laxman Lopez’.
-With Inputs from IANS.