Nawazuddin
Siddiqui’s next, Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, was dogged by controversies from the
very beginning. First there was the exit of Chitrangda Singh over explicit sex
scenes.
In an interview to SpotboyE.com
Chitrangda had angrily described her predicament: Kushan (director Kushan
Nandy) wanted me to lie on top of Nawaz. Now let me tell you that I was wearing
a petticoat for that scene. I turned around to tell Kushan about my
predicament. I told him: 'Ho toh gaya. Kyun kar raha hai aise? Please try to
understand that I am wearing a petticoat. But, he was in no mood to listen and
we ended up having a big, loud argument.”
And then there was the tussle with the Censors, which
demanded 48 cuts in the film.
After all that, the film is finally ready for release and we spoke
to its leading star about Chitrangda Singh, Pahlaj Nihalani, shooting sex
scenes and a lot more. Excerpts:
Firstly, congratulations. Babumoshai Bandookbaaz has been passed
with just 8 minor cuts in contrast to the 48 cuts suggested by the CBFC
earlier. What was your reaction when you came to know this?
The cuts which have been suggested are very minor and nominal too.
Plus, they are voluntary cuts. So, I am very happy, and Thank God, now people
can see the film as it is. A few words have been shifted here and there,
however, everything else is going to be intact.
What was the team’s reaction when Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
was given 48 cuts by CBFC?
It was shocking to say the least. It was as if we were
constructing a building and we were asked to chop off two of the prime pillars.
The film would have been destroyed. The nuances in the character, the local
flavour, would have been lost. Thank God, all's well that ends well.
What's your personal take on censorship?
I feel a film should be given ratings - whatever that may be.
There shouldn't be any censoring.
Ex CBFC Chief Pahlaj Nihalani And New CBFC Cheif Prasoon Joshi
Censor Board maintains that they give cuts because films
influence people. What do you think?
There is a deluge of uncensored content on the Internet. If the
audience was to get influenced by just seeing things, they would get influenced
by that. It's available on your phones, which is with you 24X7. So, if you had
to get affected, you would get affected by that. Why censor films for that
reason
Talking of the Censor Board, when Pahlaj Nihalani was
sacked and Prasoon Joshi stepped in, the film industry celebrated. What was
your personal reaction?
Of course, I was also jubilant. After all, Prasoon Joshi is a
capable person and is very knowledgeable about cinema and the various types and
genres of movies. Most importantly, he knows that every movie and every
character has its own flavour, nuances, dignity and puns. We are hopeful now.
Do you personally know Prasoon Joshi?
Yes.
And what about Pahlaj Nihalani?
No. I did not know him personally. Had always heard his name
(laughs out loud), but had never known him personally.
Coming to the film, what is Babumoshai Bandookbaaz about?
Tell us a bit about your character.
There is a world of contract killing and the protagonist is the
superstar of that world. He has a huge fan following and people want to grow up
to become like him. He doesn't give a damn about the values of society and has
no morals. But at the same time, he also possesses a weird sense of humour. The
best thing about this character is that it breaks all the societal norms that a
typical Bollywood hero should follow. He is totally shameless, not the perfect
man, and filled with flaws. Despite all these facts, this character is the hero
of the film.
You play a gangster in Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, you played
one in Gangs Of Wasseypur. How different are the two characters?
They are completely different from one another. There is not a
single quality of Faisal Khan (Nawaz’s character in Gangs Of Wasseypur) which
this guy has. Faisal was very emotional, he valued people, he loved and
respected his wife, he would never ogle other girls. This guy in Babumoshai
Bandookbaaz is looking to score at every given opportunity (laughs). His
character is just written like that. Faisal Khan was emotional, this guy isn't.
He is ruthless. Faisal Khan had only one motive in his life, to get revenge. This
guy thinks about killing one person today to get paid, tomorrow he
might kill someone else for more money.
Do you think you excel in playing negative characters...
(Cuts in) How many negative characters have you seen me in? Till
date, I have played just one negative character and that was in Kick (2014).
Rest aren't negative, but have shades of grey (Badlapur, Raman Raghav). These
grey characters are closer to real-life. We feel that the positive character is
the hero, but those characters are fake. For the past many years we have been
watching these fake characters and have believed them to be true.
Go on...
It's high time that we start bringing in heroes with shades of
grey, otherwise we will keep running around trees and romancing throughout our
lives. If we do away with the quintessential Bollywood hero, new stories and
concepts will come forward.
But do you think the audience is ready for change?
The audience started changing a long time ago. It's just that we have
started acknowledging it now. They started changing as soon as they got access
to the Internet.
Talking about
change, more and more filmmakers are basing their stories in rural and small
town India...
People like those
films because they can connect to them. The time of fantasy films is over.
Those stories, characters and locales were not a part of our lives. Those were
fake films. Ultimately, you will start longing for your roots. It so happens
that the more you make a story local, the more it will connect, and the more it
connects, the more it becomes global.
Coming back to
Babumoshai Bandookbaaz, you have shot a lot of intimate scenes in the film. How
far away from your real life are these scenes?
Of course it's
far away from my life. The way this character performs the steamy scenes, I've
never done it in my life (laughs out loud). 
Nawazuddin Siddiqui & Bidita Bag At The Trailer Launch Of Babumoshai Bandookbaaz
How conscious were you while doing these scenes?
When you are performing such a scene, which is far removed from
your real life, you are obviously very conscious. I was also very
uncomfortable. But my heroine, Bidita Bag, had all the faith in me and the
director, and that's why the scene came out this beautifully on-screen.
How did you make Bidita comfortable before shooting the
intimate scenes?
I didn't do anything as such. She is already a very professional
actress. She knew what to do.
Chitrangda Singh had walked out of the film because of
these scenes. What had happened?
The intimate scenes had already been shot with Chitrangda Singh
before she decided to walk out. She had other issues with the script because of
which she decided to step away from the film.
You had recently said that it's very important to learn
acting. Do you think the star kids follow this rule?
There are star kids nowadays who do a lot of hard work before they
get into films. Many of them undergo training beforehand. For example, Tiger
Shroff puts so much effort in to his dancing and it is evident on-screen. When
you train, you get knowledge, and there is no harm in gaining knowledge.
Especially, when you decide to make it your career.
What do you prefer- romance or guns?
I would like both. When I need it, I need all of it at the same
time (laughs).
Image Source: Manav Manglani, youtube/saregamamusic, beautagonal, webenty, scoopit & catchnews