Nawazuddin on chhutti

By Subhash K Jha

Watching how veteran actor Sadashiv Amrapurkar has aged the much in-demand Nawazuddin Siddiqui has decided to take a sabbatical from the camera after he finishes his current assignment.

Nawazuddin who suddenly finds himself inundated with quality work, is ready to take time off from acting as soon as he finishes his current assignments. It would be a kind of home-coming for the exceptionally gifted Nawazuddin Siddiqui when he starts shooting for Buddhadeb Dasgupta's Anwar Ka Ajab Kissa from March. Kahaani which he shot in Kolkata put Nawazuddin in the big league.

`Actually it was that film (Kahaani)which brought me out of my 11-year old struggle to be noticed. So I consider Kolkata to be lucky, ` says Nawaz shyly.

He would be leaving for Kolkata later this month to look around and get a a hang of his character's milieu. `I've wanted to work with Buddadeb Dasgupta from the time I saw his film Tahader Katha. It was visually stunning. And also, this brilliant director returns to Hindi cinema for the first time since he made Andhi Gali. So I had no choice but to say yes. `


However, post Buddhadeb Dasgupta's film there will be a lull.

The brilliant Nawaz who is currently one of the most sought-after actors in Indian cinema would be taking a few months' sabbatical.

Explains Nawaz, `I waited for 11 years to get good work. Now when I am finally getting the kind of work that I wanted with directors I dreamt of working with all my life I don't want to mess up my career by burning myself out.

I have been working non-stop and I really need to slow down. I've to take a pause to recharge my batteries. So after I complete Buddhadeb Dasgupta film which starts in Kolkata from 22 March and goes on at a stretch for 40 days, I'll be taking time off. `

Apparently the need to conserve his energies came to Nawazuddin while shooting for Dibakar Bannerjee's short film that will be a part of Bombay Talkies with veteran Sadashiv Amrapukar.

Says Dibakar, `I was dismayed to see how old he seemed although he's just 57-58. We actors tend to give too much of ourselves. And that's fine. But somewhere we also need to renew our creative energies from time to time. `


At the moment Nawazuddin finds himself so busy he is unable to devote time to promoting his new film Aatma. Ironically the film's supposed star Bipasha Basu has been promoting the film much ahead of Nawazuddin.

`I will be starting my promotion soon. I haven't been able to do so until now, ` says the busiest actor in tinsel town.