‘Doing an English feature film isn’t the benchmark of success for me’

Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s first English feature film titled ‘No Land’s Man’ has bagged a nomination for the Kim Jiseok Award at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) 2021. Talking about this ‘special’ feat, he says, “Much like the boom in Iranian films that happened a few years ago, Korean cinema is at the top of their game right now. They are churning out some of the best films like ‘Minari’ (2020). I’m happy that my film is going to Busan, a hub for Korean films.”

‘No Land’s Man’ will be competing with Aparna Sen’s directorial, ‘The Rapist’, for the prestigious award at the BIFF. “I was approached for ‘The Rapist’ but I couldn’t do it because of prior commitments. I hope either one of us wins. Aparna Sen is a wonderful director and I would like to congratulate her and her team,” shares Siddiqui.

The film will see him sharing screen space with talents from all across the world. The ‘Raat Akeli Hai’ (2020) actor looks at it as “a big learning”. He says, “In my web series ‘McMafia’, I worked with Israeli, British and American actors. In ‘No Land’s Man’, there’s an Australian actor opposite me, along with talents from China, Britain and America. It helps one understand their process of approaching a character.”

The definition of success has changed for the 47-year-old, “Doing an English feature film isn’t the benchmark of success for me. Some people think that buying a house is synonymous to success and for some, getting a break in the industry is success. For others, achieving superstardom amounts to success.”

So, what does being successful mean to him? “These things don’t matter to me. If I’m able to project a certain emotion in the way I wanted it to in a particular scene, that’s becomes important,” Siddiqui ends.