"My Roles Have Taken My Romantic Side Away"

Here's the latest update from the world of Bollywood. We bet you wouldn't want to miss this. Read on for details... Says Nawazuddin Siddiqui as he opens up about his personal life

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"My Roles Have Taken My Romantic Side Away"
Much like his on-screen characters, you'd imagine Nawazuddin Siddiqui to be sombre in person too. Lucky for us, we caught him in a chatty mood. The actor surprised us as he opened up about his personal life and how he has turned unromantic over the years. Excerpts:

Let's start with your role of Dashrath Manjhi in Manjhi - The mountain Man.
It's the toughest role of my career. I'm happy because the trailer got 4 million hits, it's gone viral. Dashrath Manjhi's story needs to be told because what he did was unthinkable.

manjhi movie poster

You have some intimate scenes in the film with your co-star Radhika Apte. Were you uncomfortable shooting for those sequences?
No, it's just a shot for me; it's my job. However, in real life, I do get shy and nervous (smiles). Ketan Sir (Mehta, the director) handled those scenes very delicately. It almost looks like poetry in motion. So he made our job easy. Also, Radhika is a trained actor. She has no inhibitions. Such scenes become easy if your co-star is professional and confident.

still from movie manjhi

What does your wife have to say about you portraying the character of Manjhi, who broke a mountain for his wife?
I don't think I will show this film to my wife (laughs). I think no wife should watch this film or else, they will make the same demands from their husbands, "Manjhi ne pahad toda. Aap mere liye kya kar saktey ho?"

Would you say you're as romantic in real life as him?
(Laughs) I don't know. I used to be romantic but after portraying so many intense roles, I think I have become a tad dry in terms of romance. You know, each of your roles takes a part of you away. I think my roles have taken my romantic side away.

You rarely open up about your personal life. Tell us a little more about your wife.
We dated each other for 10 years before getting married. When we moved to Mumbai, we decided to live in. Like any live-in couple, we started having lots of fights and then, she moved out. After a few months, she moved in again and then we thought ki bahut ho gaya. Let's get married now.