Nawazuddin Siddiqui: There is monopoly on theatres

A still from Serious Men

When you settle in for a Nawazuddin Siddiqui movie, you can be assured that it will be anything but run-of-the-mill. In 2020, the actor gave us a moody murder mystery in Raat Akeli Hai, a comedy in Ghoomketu, and some food for thought in Serious Men. As the shrewd Ayyan Mani who will go to any lengths to build a better life for his son in the satire, Siddiqui showed us again why he is considered one of the finest actors of his generation, and became a contender for the Best Actor (Film) nod at the upcoming mid-day and Radio City Hitlist OTT Awards.

Siddiqui, on his part, gives credit to the source material - Manu Joseph's biting satire of the same name - and director Sudhir Mishra's vision. "It's a complicated yet interesting novel; the way Sudhir adapted it and Bhavesh [Mandalia, one of the writers] wrote it was commendable. Sudhir [beautifully explored] the idea of a father who couldn't achieve much in life and wanted his son to do better. This happens everywhere in our society," he says.

One of the first Bollywood stars to have explored digital medium, the actor is glad the film had a direct-to-web release, thus reaching a wide audience. "Theatres can never give us the reach that the web gives us. OTT is a democratic platform. There is a monopoly on theatres. Good films often don't get adequate screens. In such cases, you can't decide a film's fate basis its box-office run. In contrast, even if a terrible movie is released in 5,000 screens, it ends up making R20 crore at least."

He feels that the OTT boom has brought about a much-needed shift in perception of films and given actors a level-playing field. "This year has proved that a film's [commercial] success depends on the number of shows in cinemas. One can manipulate the number of screens in theatres, but not on OTT. No matter how big a superstar you are, you will get the same set of audience [as any other actor] in digital entertainment."

Did you know?

During his struggling days, Siddiqui had tried to unsuccessfully land a role in Sudhir Mishra's Calcutta Mail (2003).

Cast your vote for the Hitlist OTT Awards

Nawazuddin Siddiqui has been nominated in the Best Actor (Male): Film category for Serious Men. The other nominees are:

. Adil Hussain: Pareeksha (ZEE5)
. Amitabh Bachchan: Gulabo Sitabo (Amazon Prime Video)
. Anil Kapoor: AK vs AK (Netflix)
. Kunal Kemmu: Lootcase (Disney+Hotstar)
. Vikrant Massey: Cargo (Netflix)

Log on to www.hitlistottawards.com to cast your vote.

You can also vote via SMS. Send HITLIST <space> category name <space> your choice (a/b/c as on the website) to 57575.

Voting lines close on February 9.