After all his success, thanks to his otherworldly talent and acting skills, Nawazuddin Siddiqui is one of those forces on Bollywood, who’s never really shied away from speaking his mind – especially when it comes down to the internal functioning of the industry.
He has previously spoken about the insider vs outsider debate and also stated how he’s been discriminated against because of whatever ‘mainstream image’ filmmakers have in their minds about the ‘leading hero.’
The highly talented star of films like ‘Gangs Of Wasseypur’ and ‘Manto’, Nawazuddin has just also been nominated at the International Emmy Awards for his performance in the 2020 released flick – Serious Men, which also starred the talented Indira Tiwari in the lead.
But Nawazu seems certain, that our film industry is so obsessed with the way lead actors look, that he feels like there is a ‘racism’ problem in the film fraternity.
During his recent interview with Bollywood Hungama, the actor stated:
“Sudhir Saab (Sudhir Mishra-director of Serious Men) has immense knowledge about cinema, and his thought process is very practical. He cast her as the heroine, and I can guarantee that there is so much racism in our industry; I will be very happy if she is cast as the lead again. Sudhir Mishra did it, but what about the head honchos in charge? More than nepotism, we have a racism problem.”
He further added:
“It’s very important. I’m not even talking about skin color; there is a bias that exists in the industry which needs to end for better films to be made… I was rejected for many years only because I’m short, and I look a certain way, although I can’t complain now.”
There’s no denying the obsession of Hindi film industry with vanity and fair skin, especially in the last 2 or 3 decades. So Nawazuddin’s point does make sense.
What are your thoughts?