Nawqzuddint Siddiqui is a critically acclaimed actor, loved by audience and critics alike. However, it took him around 12 years to get a breakthrough in Bollywood. Meanwhile, he did odd jobs from selling coriander to being a watchman. The success didn’t come easy for Nawazuddin. Now that his struggling days are behind him, the actor shares his story of struggling days in a Humans Of Bombay post.
Nawazuddin said,
“Financially, I wasn’t well off. I would borrow money from my friends, saying I’d return them in 2 days. Two days later I would borrow money from someone else and pay the first person back. I lived in a flat with four other people – it was about survival. I worked odd jobs – sometimes as a watchman, sometimes selling coriander. I even held acting workshops! I must have gone for a 100 auditions and took up every single role that came my way, no matter how small it was. It took 12 years before I got a ‘breakthrough’. It wasn’t easy – the struggle was not beautiful, it was just that; a struggle,”
The actor also talked about his humble background and said,
“I grew up in a small town in UP. I come from a family of farm workers; all in all we were 11 – my parents and my 9 brothers and sisters. I was the oldest, so naturally it fell upon me to take care of the rest. I was strict – I made sure all of them followed a time table and did their homework. If they were involved in any mischief I would shout at them–of course, in reality, I was the naughtiest! In fact during Diwali, my friends and I would steal diyas!”