Nawazuddin Siddiqui is one of several actors who worked their way up the Bollywood fame ladder. The actor’s journey to becoming a renowned performer was not smooth, and he got to where he is now through a series of brief roles. In fact, he stated in a recent interview that he has acted in a handful of movies that he does not discuss.
He had a minor role in the Manoj Bajpayee and Raveena Tandon starrer Shool, way before establishing himself as a well-known actor. In Ram Gopal Verma’s film, the actor plays a restaurant waiter, however, he claims he was never paid for his work.
In conversation with Bollywood Bubble, he revealed that he was not given the small fee of ₹2,500 that he was entitled for his work in the film. He also stated that he went to the producer’s office repeatedly over the course of a few months to collect his money.
I was doing it all for survival. Like in Shool I had done the role of a waiter. Raveena Tandon and Manoj Bajpayee were sitting at the table and I came to take their order. That was it. They said I would be given ₹2500 which I did not get to date. There are many like that, but I remember Shool very well.
-Nawazuddin Siddiqui to Bollywood Bubble
The actor then devised a different way to get his money back after going to the office for 6-7 months and not being paid.
What I did smartly later was that I used to reach at lunchtime at their office. So looking at my condition they used to ask, ‘Khaana khayega? Paise toh nahi milenge but khaana khaale aaja.’ So like that, I ate food for 1 and half months so my money was paid that way.”
-Nawazuddin Siddiqui to Bollywood Bubble
Besides Shool, Nawazuddin Siddiqui has made cameos in a bunch of popular films, like Sarfarosh, Munna Bhai M.B.B.S, Aaja Nachle, and Dev.D, to name a few.
